Intel is reportedly working on a revolutionary mobile processor featuring 48-core CPU that will start appearing in smartphone and tablets in the next five to ten years.

Researchers at Intel Labs in Barcelona are working on finding new ways to implement and utilize so many cores in mobile devices, according to a report by ComputerWorld.

"If we're going to have this technology in five to 10 years, we could finally do things that take way too much processing power today. This could really open up our concept of what is a computer... The phone would be smart enough to not just be a computer but it could be my computer," Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, told ComputerWorld.

The next-generation processor will reinvent the mobile market. Intel researchers said that with a great number of cores, workload on a device will be divided among the cores and run simultaneously, rather than splitting the tasks among a few cores.

Intel jumped onto the mobile phone bandwagon with its XOLO smartphone, which packs a single-core Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.6GHz. Motorola also came up with a similar smartphone, the Razr i, with 2GHz Atom inside. In the recent past, Intel stated that smartphones are not ready yet for a dual-core Intel processor. However, it looks like that Intel had to change its decision as its business in the PC market is slowing down due to the recent shift towards smartphones and tablets.

"Five to 10 years is somewhat of an eternity in technology time. If we're going to have this technology in five to 10 years, [the smartphone] won't have just one camera. It would have two to three cameras that are always on. It could build a three-dimensional map of what it's looking at and do object recognition. You could finally do things that take way too much processing power today," said Moorhead.

The super processor is predicted to hit the market in next 10 years. However, Intel CTO Justin Rattner believes that the revolutionary mobile chip will arrive "much sooner" than expected.

Nevertheless, when a 48-core super processor lands, just imagine what kind of processing speed it will deliver. Smartphones in the next decade will likely become more powerful than Intel Core-i7 powered desktops that are currently available.