As the high-end smartphone market begins to be locked up by Apple, Samsung, LG, and others, smartphone manufacturers are now looking to the low-end market segment for growth in the industry. In particular, growing demand for low-priced smartphones is predicted to grow rapidly in countries such as China, Brazil, and India.

However, a new report from DigiTimes Research predicts that the growth in low-end smartphones may loosen Android’s iron grip on the global smartphone market. The report states that newer versions of Android may not be suitable for the low-end hardware that will go into coming entry-level smartphones.

Though consumers may want the benefits of Android Jelly Bean, this may limit how low-cost manufacturers can go with their hardware choices. Older versions of Android, which could easily run on low-end hardware, may not have the features consumers are looking for.

The report also states that manufacturers are now considering alternative smartphone operating systems to even further decrease hardware specs. Platforms such as the new FireFox OS and Tizen are now being evaluated. DigiTimes also stated that Apple’s iOS may have less of a problem running on entry-level iPhones, which are expected to be announced next month.

(via DigiTimes)