The analyst notes that the second quarter saw an overall increase in smartphone sales of nearly a seventh (13.8 per cent).
However, this figure could have been higher if more active matrix organic LEDs were available.
A shortage of these and other components held back sales of some newer, popular handset models, Gartner claims.
"Growth in media tablets ... did not appear to hold back smartphone sales," says research vice-president Carolina Milanesi.
"We believe that most tablet users still feel the need for a truly pocketable yet highly capable device."
Despite Gartner identifying some factors holding back the smartphone market at the top end, fellow analyst IDC expects strong growth into the second half of 2010.
Predicting "explosive growth" over the last six months of the year, IDC forecasts a "critical starting point" for the market as 2011 gets underway.
