Intel has little presence in the mobile space beyond netbooks, most of which carry Atom chips, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. Because the growth rate for PC sales continues to slow, Intel has to look at new markets like tablets and smartphones to grow, McCarron said. A year ago, Intel said would spend US$7 billion over two years to revamp manufacturing plants in an effort to make smaller, more power-efficient chips as it tries to enter new markets.

Tablets and smartphones require low-power processors, so Atom is the chip for the company to use to jump into new markets, McCarron said. The Atom processor is based on the x86 architecture used in laptop and desktop chips, and Moorestown is perhaps Intel's first low-power x86 chip that can fit into devices out laptops and netbooks, McCarron said.

"Ultimately that's Intel's goal -- not world domination, but x86 domination," McCarron said. "They want to push x86 down to as many market segments as they can."

However, Intel faces a big challenger in rival Arm, whose processors go into most smartphones and are quickly making their way into tablets. Many tablets shown at CES in January use Arm processors. Companies like Dell and Lenovo have already announced tablets with Arm chips. Apple's iPad tablet contains an Apple A4 chip, which is also rumored to have an Arm processor.

Despite Intel's efforts, Arm is a step ahead in developing lower-power processors that may be ideal for tablets or smartphones, McCarron said. Intel has attempted to reduce Atom's power consumption, but it could take years for Intel to come close to catching up with Arm, McCarron said.