Projecting problems for Intel in the next few quarters because of the increasing popularity of tablets and weakening PC market, Caris & Co. analyst Craig Ellis recently made a downward revision of his earnings approximation as well as stock price target for the chip giant.

In his Wednesday-issued reassessment, Ellis lowered his full-year earnings estimates for Intel to $2.10 per share in 2012 and to $1.92 per share in 2013; as against his earlier estimates of $2.12 per share and $2.08 per share respectively in 2012 and 2013.

Furthermore, lowering his price target for the Intel stock from $29 to $26, Ellis also relegated Intel from a "Buy" to "Above Average."

With the re-assessment coming almost three weeks after Intel's forecast of a year-on-year plunge in its third-quarter revenue, Ellis said that, in his opinion, tablets have delivered a much bigger blow to Intel than what he had earlier perceived.

Expressing the likelihood of an increase in Intel's problems in the coming quarters due to the growing attractiveness of the Apple iPad and a horde of other tablet devices, Ellis said that the tablets' popularity will spell troubles for the chipmaker because most of these devices are not powered by Intel microprocessors.

Meanwhile, since Intel's chips are largely used in Windows PCs, the company is making attempts to design more power-efficient chips for tablets; and is set to preview Windows 8 tablets powered by its chips in San Francisco on Thursday.