He said Intel desperately needs some very large design wins to get moving in the tablet/smartphone markets. And this 3D chip win is a strong one to start off with.

"Intel has virtually nothing compelling in either the tablet or smartphone space in terms of a shipping product," he added. "[The new technology] is core, no pun intended. This is generally how they advance. But Intel needs to address technology and marketing requirements and, so far, they are only effective on technology."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at or subscribe to . Her e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.