Even if no specific products come out of it, the collaboration could be mutually beneficial as both companies try to expand their presence in key markets, analysts said. Intel, the world's top chip maker, is trying to catch up with competitor Arm in the mobile-phone space. Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone vendor, is looking to expand its product offerings beyond handsets, analysts said.

Intel has a road map of chips that could go into many devices, and the alliance gives Nokia a broader capability to build Internet-centric devices, said Leslie Fiering, a vice president covering mobile computing at Gartner. Nokia has been strong in the handset space and could be looking at mobile devices in different form factors, which could include netbooks, Fiering said.

One trigger for Nokia's alignment with Intel may have been Apple's popular iPhone device, an Internet-centric smartphone that has a strong software and entertainment ecosystem around it, Fiering said. For example, iPhone users can download movies and videos from the iTunes store, and software applications from Apple's App Store. Using Intel's chips could bring a larger ecosystem and stronger set of x86-based applications to Nokia's mobile devices, Fiering said.

Intel, on the other hand, could use Nokia's market presence to get an entry into the mobile space, which is the next obvious market for the chip company as it tries to expand beyond the PC business, said Dan Olds, principal analyst with Gabriel Consulting Group. After years of trying, Intel has realized that it can't sell chips for mobile devices itself, and Nokia gives Intel a beachhead to get into that industry.

Intel's revenue opportunities from the alliance will be insignificant for a while, Olds said. However, the company will get an inside view on how to market its mobile chips through Nokia's eyes, which could help it build revenue over time.