Intel already has leadership in performance, and the company's progress in power consumption will become evident through the Medfield tablet, Smith said. The company is consistently trying to make its chips smaller and faster through manufacturing advances as it tries to close the gap with rivals like ARM, whose low-power processors are found in most smartphones and tablets.

"That performance expectation that people had in PCs ... is now showing in smartphones and [tablets]," Smith said.

Intel's main business is around PC and server chips, and its low-power Atom processors are considered to be more power-hungry than ARM processors.

The Medfield chip combines an Atom processor with other components such as video accelerators. The company is putting tremendous focus on fine-grained power management for standby, Smith said. The active power usage will be optimized depending on application.