The show was surprisingly light on smartphones and tablets, with the focus squarely on ultrabooks, an emerging category of thin-and-light PCs with tablet features. Intel talked about new hybrid ultrabook models in which screens can be detached to become tablets, and new forms of touch, gesture and voice interaction with ultrabooks. Intel's message was clear -- ultrabooks are multifaceted devices that can be powerful laptops, but also tablets for those who desire mobility.

Intel also shed light on its upcoming Haswell chips, which will double performance while cutting power consumption to improve battery life on ultrabooks. Company executives in interviews also said they weren't happy with "good enough computing," possibly aiming at ARM, whose processors go into most tablets and smartphones. Intel offers more performance but lags ARM on power consumption, and the company hopes to catch up with its rival via advances in its manufacturing process.

Tablets and phones are becoming more powerful, but Intel has shown it has the capability to reduce power consumption on chips through Haswell. Intel is aware the industry is shifting and will move with it, Kanter said.

"Naturally, Intel would like that to shift back as they come out with more mobile devices and get into the cellphone space and tablets in a more serious way," Kanter said.

The progress on Haswell could reflect on Intel smartphone and tablet chips going into the future, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.