Verifone Inc. has hired an Apple Computer executive to succeed its departing vice president and general manager.
Robin Abrams is taking over from Denis A. Calvert, 48, who joins Citicorp this week as the head of its new retail and merchant services division.
Ms. Abrams, 45, will be vice president and general manager for the Americas group. That puts her in charge of sales and marketing strategies for Latin America, Canada, and the Caribbean.
She joins Redwood City, Calif.-based Verifone from Apple, where she was responsible for sales management for the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Industry experts said filling Mr. Calvert's shoes would not be easy but that Ms. Abrams is a good successor. They said Verifone must balance strong international sales with flatter sales in the United States.
"Verifone has been very wise in strategically diversifying its emphasis on a single product line," said Stanley Anderson, president of Anderson and Associates, Arvada, Colo.
"They are moving more and more to smart cards and stored-value cards at the point of sale," he said, "and they are also moving to have product acceptance on an international level."
In Ms. Abrams, he said, "they are bringing on someone with a very strong technological capacity who would suit that strategy."
She will report to Hatim Tyabji, president, chairman, and chief executive officer of Verifone.
