The Americans didn't buy the Concord, in deference to Boeings own SST project.
The Americans didn't buy the A380 in deference to Boeing. Boeing had offered Airbus a joint venture deal on the Future Very Large Aircraft but Airbus turned it down and Boeing then cancelled their plans to build one.
The A380 was intended to replace, (not kill!) the B747, but the B747 had already been replaced by the B777, A330 etc.
When an aircraft is purchased, either by an airline or a leasing company they have the opportunity to buy what is known as 'Residual Value' insurance.
This is intended to cover the difference between the estimated re-sale, (residual), value of an aircraft after a given period, (usually in years), and the actual value at time of sale, if there is any difference. Normally bought in layers, the layer nearest to the original estimated sale value, say, just for example, 1million to 5million below, will be the most expensive. Be interesting to see if companies like ILF took out this kind of cover.
For those interested, some information here;
http://www.avitas.com/publications/a...es%2024-30.pdf