I think the 7E7 will sell rather well. There will always be demand for a plane in that class. Imagine that Boeing is right and there will be more frequency on more routes, in that case the 7E7(long range version) will win. Imagine that Airbus is right and there will be less frequency on fewer or the same routes. In that case larger feeders will be required. They are already common on high density routes in Europe, think LH A300 and BA 767. If that happens the 7E7(short range version) wins! Either way Boeing will sell the plane.
Now there is a more interesting question. Will there be enough sales to make the project profitable? After all, and unlike the A380, the 7E7 will face tough competition.
The main competitor will of course be the A330. And I think it is safe to assume that Airbus will modify it to make it (even) more interesting for airlines. A lot of development money and resources now go to the A380. In under five years most of these resources can be moved to making a better A330 or another project.
The 7E7 will get most of its benefit from the improved engines, this has been stated by Boeing on more than one occaission. So what will stop Airbus from using the same engines? Or similar engines provided by another engine maker. Boeing will likely offer only 1 or 2 engines to the airlines (they did so with the 737NG and the 777 as well). There are however three large companies capable of developing such engines (P&W, RR, GE). One of them will catch up sooner or later.
Of course there are also other competitors, but they are less important. Think of second hand B767s and A330s and if Russia where to get a leasing program the IL96s could be popular in Asia and the former CIS.
Some may say that Airbus won’t be able to foot the bill of a “new” A330. I think that is no competely the case.
Over the years Boeing could sell the 747 with a large profit margin, because there was no competitor. The additional profit went into supporting other aircraft. Airbus can now do the same with the A380 almost has a monopoly. It is quite a bit larger then the 747 and has growth potential which the 747 has yet to show.
With the additional profit that the A380 will eventually (not immediately as the launch customers got of cheap) make the A330 can be cross subsidized. This will be a bad thing for the 7E7.
As it is now, Boeing is focussing to much on details. How the plane looks for instance! They want a easily recognizable planes for PR purposes (hence the odd looks). The airlines just want an economical plane! The naming competition is another thing like that.
Boeing will sell the 7E7, but it won’t be as big a succes as the 737 or the 757 was!
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