Weekly Highlights: Apple Vs. Retailers, Hewlett-Packard Innovation And More

Apple activated an astonishing one million credit cards during the first 72 hours following Apple Pay's launch.

It's unknown how many credit cards were activated during the rest of the week, but the initial activation period is a new record for the mobile payment industry.

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Not content to let Apple have all the fun, CVS Health Corp (NYSE: CVS) and Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) banned NFC payment solutions from their stores. This decision came exactly one week after Apple Pay debuted.

CVS and Rite Aid are among the retailers working on CurrentC, their own payment solution. Analysts aren't confident in its success.

"I'm not hopeful that CVS and Rite Aid can make any significant headway in creating their own payments platform," CRT Capital analyst Neil Doshi told Benzinga.

"I think at the end of the day, they will revert going back to whichever payment platform is picking up steam. Ultimately, you want to be able to offer consumers choice, whether it's paying with a credit card, paying with cash, paying with AMEX, a debit card or an Apple Pay phone. I think if they're going to allow credit cards, they might as well allow Apple Pay."

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Who knew Hewlett-Packard could pull an Apple and surprise consumers with a product they never saw coming?

Hewlett-Packard is not unlike Microsoft in that it has an incredible R&D team. Unlike Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard tends to be somewhat secretive.

That changed this weeks when Hewlett-Packard unveiled Sprout, a unique PC that combines a scanner, a depth sensor, a high-resolution camera and a projector into a single unit.

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Apple and Alibaba teased the press, indicating that the two could work out a partnership (the details of which are unknown). If technology companies were covered by tabloids, they'd be all over this.

"There's a lot of opportunities there, whether it's Apple opening a store on Tmall or some other type of cooperation, possibly around media or iTunes access," Wedbush analyst Gil Luria told Benzinga. "Those are the more likely things that I think they can cooperate on."

CRT Capital analyst Neil Doshi thinks Alibaba could use Apple Pay to its advantage.

"In China, a lot of people end up using pre-paid cards for things," Doshi told Benzinga. "Maybe the way to work with Apple is an Alibaba pre-paid card for buying items that's stored on your iPhone. When you go to pay, you pay with your Alibaba pre-paid card for items in China versus carrying around cash everywhere.

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The entire tablet market is in a rut. After years of growth, manufacturers have found that consumers no longer need to buy an increasing number of units. Tablets aren't like smartphones (which are replaced often), so consumers aren't willing to upgrade their tablets every year.

Consequently, Apple's sales are falling. And while other tablet manufacturers are also experiencing declines, Apple is one of the primary firms that is losing market share.

During Q3 2013, Apple commanded 29.2 percent of the market. This year the iPad maker only commanded 22.8 percent.

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