Apple has hired search firm Egon Zehnder International to find a replacement for retail chief Ron Johnson, reports "The Wall Street Journal" (http://macte.ch/w7JnV), quoting "people familiar with the matter said."

CEO Steve Jobs, who's now on medical leave, was extensively involved in the decision to use a search firm and chose Egon Zehnder mainly because he wants to consider executives who are based abroad, one person familiar with the situation said, the article adds. Apple's hiring of the global recruitment firm suggests the company will be open to a hire outside the US.

In June, it was announced that Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of Apple retail and the mastermind behind Apple's wildly successful retail strategy, had been named the company's next chief executive officer. Johnson will assume the CEO position on Nov. 1.

Johnson, 52, has served for the past 11 years as senior vice president of retail at Apple., where he led its retail strategy, which from its start in 2001 now numbers over 300 stores in the U.S. and abroad. He joined Apple after 15 years at Target Corp., where he was a key merchandising executive.