HTC has taken the top three places in uSwitch's tracker, which ranks mobiles by sales and live searches.
The HTC Desire and Desire HD top the chart of mobile devices, which also includes entries from Blackberry's Curve 8520, Samsung's Galaxy S and the Motorola Defy. Apple's iPhone 4 isn't even in the top five, making it to sixth on the list.
The Desire series has proven a worthy competitor to Apple's market prominence, and the appearance of the HTC Wildfire in third place serves as further proof of HTC's strong consumer following. uSwitch notes that Desire mobiles are often available on cheaper tariffs than the iPhone, which in reality means a similarly-specified device for less money.
Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch, comments: “The competition is taking a huge bite out of Apple’s market. And, with over 800,000 deals currently giving away a smartphone for free, it’s easy to see how consumers are being lured away from the iPhone.
“HTC has outsmarted the smartphone market by customising its handsets at a range of price points – as seen by the Wildfire acting as an aspirational Desire. It’s clever marketing. Plus Google’s Android operating platform really cuts the mustard in terms of the thousands of applications available, especially on the gaming side.”
According to uSwitch's research, Android mobile devices account for half of the most popular handsets, adding to Apple's woes. Doku warns that the firm will hit back, however.
“Android phones have well and truly pipped Apple to the post,” Doku says. “But, with just a couple of months until Apple is expected to give details of its next offering, it’s almost a dead cert that they will soon lead the way again in the race for smartphone dominance.”
