Don
It is the initial design that i question. The initial design of the 777 and the GE90 came out in 1995 (sorry for the 25y, it's 20, ashes on my head ....). I am sure that the dugong has some potential left, but as i said, for the little numbers that will be sold i don't think Airbus will invest that much more in it.
We had that A vs. B before .... but here it is a 2 vs. 4 engined aircraft matter, so you can berry your dugong hat. The 4-legged Boeing has the same initial design (and re-design) handicap as the 380 and that's what i said on this thread: It will never be performing so much better as to raise big interest.
I am convinced that either one of the biggies is sold with discounts, or they flop. At EK the 380 enjoys a nice run, good for us all, but below the line it relies heavily on its initial price/lease paid. If Boeing desperately wants to follow suit, EK might get a bargain with the 748, they'd be foolish not to take advantage of the carnage between A and B. But i doubt that Boeing drops that low with the 77X up their sleeve.