Intel is in the news. The buzz is that Samsung has chosen an Intel processor to power one of its popular Galaxy tablets.

It’s a coup for Intel. While Intel chips are in about 85 percent of our desktops and laptops, it famously declined to produce chips for the first iPhone when it came out in 2007.

Fast forward to today, PC sales slipped for the first time in a decade and smartphones and tablet sales are rising. And so Intel has been trying to play catch-up ever since. In the meantime, Qualcomm, ARM and Samsung have been dominating the area.

Anand Srinivasan, an analyst at Bloomberg Industries, says this is the break Intel’s been waiting for.

“This is great product validation that they can produce a product for a significant customer in a very dramatic growing space,” Srinivasan says.

But he adds that the real test will be whether Samsung adopts Intel into its products across the board. That’s when Intel can really proclaim success in the mobile arena.