Boeing to ink $7 bln-plus deals with China airlines

[NVMojo]

IBM can't do business with China but Boeing can??? What kind of chess game do we have going with China and the White House??

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. will sign on Friday deals worth up to $7.5 billion to sell 60 of its 7E7 Dreamliner planes to six Chinese airlines, a source familiar with the transactions said on Thursday.

The orders are a coup for Boeing as it battles European rival Airbus for customers. They are also a big boost for the 7E7, a mid-sized airliner expected to offer low fuel and operating costs when it debuts in 2008.

"Obviously, it's a plus," said Cai von Rumohr, an analyst at SG Cowen. "I'm a bull on the 7E7. Boeing has a better product (than rival plane Airbus A350) which will get more than half the market."

more...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7459296&type=businessNews

[amandabeech]

1. The Chinese will probably demand that many parts for this plane

be built in China, so that they can then steal the technology. Will Congress get involved in this?

[DulceDecorum]

2. The US put lots of bugs

in the last plane they sent to China, but the Chinese found them before they had a chance to do anything.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1769642.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1774779.stm

So, now if the Chinese say they want to build the spares themselves, it is going to difficult to say no.

[KDLarsen]

3. I call BS at Cai von Rumohr (that name just irks me)

.. how the heck can he compare two products, neither of which have even to make a test flight yet? Especially since the details of the Airbus A350 have yet to be revealed.

A bit of boeing cheerleading perhaps?

(Before you kill me, God knows that Airbus would do the same thing if they won an order for 60 A350's to China).