Apple's time as top dog of the mobile market may be coming to an end if the latest search survey by Good Mobile Phones is anything to go by.

The month long review of handset searchers by customers placed HTC the clear winner and revealed the latest iPhone 4 failed to make the top five, coming in at an embarrassing sixth place.

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

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

Although Apple has long enjoyed brand loyalty from many of its customers, it seems that the devotion to the iPhone may well be on the slide, with HTC now being the most searched for smartphone brand around the globe.

So, what went wrong? According to Mark Owen, Managing Director of Good Mobile Phones, it's the price and lack of incentives to choose Apple that's putting people off.

Mark Owen said: "For some time now HTC has been knocking at the door and trying to overtake the Apple iPhone's dominance of the handset 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 in comparison to its handset rivals in terms of incentivising consumers to choose their products and many believe that the HTC range of handsets offer a more competitive technological edge in terms of features and functionality," he added.

This Christmas will see many customers switch online to make that all-important purchase, for themselves or a loved one, and the latest smartphone is top of everybody's wish list.

With more polls and sales figures undoubtedly scheduled for release after the festive period, Apple will have to see if this latest poll is an indicator to its actual popularity among consumers on the high street and online.