Well, considering that boeing promised to deliver at a total cost of only 20.6 billion $, and airbus only went down as far as 22.6, it seems airbus tried only to force boeing into making a scarcely if at all profitable bid. And they were successfull with that strategy too, after all the price dropped by around 14,4 billion dollars during the bid. And it is a fixed price, however as the A400M disaster shows that doesn't prevent a change in price if needed.