India, Jan. 1 -- It is a curious paradox. Even as India's smartphone market clocks new shipment milestones quarter after quarter, helped in no small measure by a rapidly expanding local manufacturing base, the absence of strong homegrown brands on the market share charts remains glaring. Lava remains the lone outlier, even as phone brands including Karbonn have realigned focus to more affordable feature phones, while Ai+ is still finding its feet, and niche. Beyond that, questions persist - why does the world's second-largest smartphone market lack a domestic champion, where did Indian phone makers lose their way, and is there still a realistic second chance at a comeback?

Analyst data suggests India achieved a five-year high with smartp...