Wok-Re your original posting it cost Airbus a fortune to design the A320.One reason an A320 s initial cost is so much higher than a 737 is that Airbus have to put on $1Million to recover their FBW costs.Another is that the build quality of an Airbus is much higher.The primary advantage is weight of electrical looms vs conventional control cables.The life cycle cost of an A320 is massively less than a 737 partly as a result of of reduced fuel burn/flying control maintenance costs.
The weight saving is significantly easier to justify on an A330/340 but you have to remember where Airbus were when the A320 was conceived twenty years ago.They had sold less than 400 A300/310s and had to leapfrog Boeing/MacDac with a step change in operating costs.If Airbus is to displace the 747,at the top end of the market,a similar significnt improvement to operating costs will be essential.