AMD buys Rolf Harris

Shock new acquisition could give AMD the edge back against Intel, reports Rupert Hyper-Transport

Before the dust had even settled on the ATi acquisition, AMD is at it again. This time, in a deal said to be worth £7.50 and 200 million AMD shares (about £4.50 in total since the release of Intel’s Core 2), AMD is purchasing Australian wobbleboard supremo Rolf Harris.

‘Rolf will bring a fresh new outlook to the company,’ explained AMD’s Gemima Jobshare. ‘His quick-sketching ability will help us get the new K8L design off the drawing board, hopefully before Intel steals back all our customers!’ AMD also hopes that in the interim Harris’s lovable brand of antipodean humour will help deflect attention away from the company’s actual products.

The Harris acquisition by AMD complements the ATi deal perfectly. All three have the same laid-back corporate culture, but bring different strengths to the table. ‘AMD needed help in handling delayed product launches, and ATi is the clear market leader in this respect,’ explained Jobshare. ‘But Rolf’s work on Animal Hospital will also be invaluable as Intel’s Core Microarchitecture makes a monkey of us over the next year.’

At the time of writing, Intel was considering a hostile bid for Harris, and is also rumoured to be in talks with Basil Brush. If that deal becomes a reality, AMD will find it increasingly tough to compete.