A recent survey about holiday gifts from Retrevo Pulse Report is providing some insight into the companies that could be big winners during this year’s holiday season. Within the tech space, Apple’s (AAPL) iPad 2 and Amazon.com’s (AMZN) Kindle Fire topped the list by a long slide. Over 10 percent of the surveys 1,000 participants said they wanted to receive the $500 iPad 2 or its more inexpensive cousin, the $200 Kindle Fire.

Tablets, even the Nook from Barnes & Noble (BKS), were far and away the most desired items in the survey. The Nook; however, with fewer features and a $50 higher price tag than the Kindle Fire, is unlikely to gobble up too much market share. Respondents to another survey, performed by Soda Head, said that only 11 percent of those hoping for a tablet, had their eyes set on the Nook. The Soda Head survey said 17 percent were hoping for a Kindle Fire while 65 percent wanted an Ipad 2.

Smartphones, including the well-received, iPhone 4s, were also at the top of both lists. The Soda Head survey actually said that the 4S, which comes equipped with an 8 megapixel camera and a highly advanced voice controlled AI system called Siri, was the number one choice for their 1,150 respondents, though my a minor margin.

The results regarding the tablets and phones being top gift considerations for the 2011 holiday season were consistent throughout several surveys of shoppers, as were results that indicated HDTVs were a popular preference for men while women preferred digital cameras. This could boost the quarterly earnings for major consumer electronics companies like Sony (SNE) and LG (LPL). Canon Inc. (CAJ), which has long been considered among the top creators of digital cameras, could also benefit from added interest in digital cameras. Over all, surveys seemed to indicate that slightly more people, around 32 percent would be purchasing tech and related gifts this year than in previous seasons. Last year, 28 percent of the people surveyed by the National Retail Federation said they would be buying tech gifts.

This could also help some retailers, including Best Buy (BBY), who are looking to lure in customers with add-ons or what they’re calling, “appcessories,” like applications that can transform tablets into television remotes or credit card readers.

This year’s National Retail Federation’s 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, indicated in addition to a more intensified tech focus, consumers planned to spend more, around a 2.8 percent year-over-year increase on their holiday shopping. Total sales expectations are $465.6 billion with 14 percent responding that they intend to spend more in tech.