Google Inc. is pushing to become a significant player

Android lends functionality to smartphones, including touch-screen capability and a large marketplace of small software 'apps.' It has gained market share quickly this year in developed countries such as the U.S., powering several devices that have sold briskly.

Now Google is setting its sights on the masses in developing countries like India, which has 670 million cellphone subscribers and has been adding about 18 million a month recently.

Most of the initial Google-powered phones in India from established handset makers such as Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. cost upward of $400, much too expensive in a market where 42% of the population of 1.2 billion earns less than $1.25 a day.

To target India's vast middle class, Google is banking largely on a crop of inexperienced Indian smartphone manufacturers including Micromax Informatics Ltd., Spice Mobility Ltd., and Olive Telecom to make Android phones in the $150 range, and eventually the sub-$100 level.

'You've got a lot of innovation happening from local manufacturers,' said Vinay Goel, who oversees Google's products in India. He said Android phones selling for more than $400 are only going to capture 'a really niche market' in India. 'To be in the mainstream, you have to be in the $100 to $200 range,' he said. 'The closer to $100 the better.'

Gaining a foothold in India won't be straightforward. Most of the Indian handset makers have never made a smartphone before, so there could be glitches in their early tries. Also, even if they could make $100 phones -- a huge challenge given that hardware for smartphones is costly -- those would still be well outside the range of many ordinary Indians who can buy less advanced phones for $40 that have cameras and basic data services.