Apple’s time as the mobile market leader may be coming to an end if you consider the latest search survey conducted by Good Mobile Phones.

The month-long review of phone finders by customers put HTC as the clear winner and revealed that the latest iPhone 4 failed to make the top five, landing an embarrassing sixth place.

Apple lost out to the new HTC phones, with Wildlife, Desire and Desire HD securing the top three spots, a win in search terms that reflects the brands’ growing popularity.

HTC was followed by the Samsung Galaxy S and the Nokia N8. The top ten also listed Blackberry’s Curve 8520, Samsung’s Tocco Lite, Blackberry’s Torch and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 Mini as their favorites.

While Apple has long enjoyed brand loyalty from many of its customers, it appears that devotion to the iPhone may well be waning, with HTC now the most sought-after smartphone brand in the world.

So what went wrong? According to Mark Owen, CEO of Good Mobile Phones, it’s the price and lack of incentive to choose Apple that puts people off.

Mark Owen said: “For some time, HTC has been knocking on the door and trying to overcome the dominance of Apple’s iPhone in the mobile phone market. These results clearly show that they have taken the lead in terms of consumer demand for their smartphones.

“We are surprised that Apple has done very little compared to its mobile phone rivals in terms of encouraging consumers to choose its products and many believe that the HTC range of phones offers a more competitive technological advantage in terms of features and functionality.” , he added. .

This Christmas, many customers will turn to the Internet to make that all-important purchase, for themselves or a loved one, and the latest smartphone is at the top of everyone’s wish list.

With more surveys and sales figures no doubt due to be released after the holiday period, Apple will have to see if this latest survey is an indicator of its real popularity with consumers on the street and online.