I don't think there's any question that it was a response to the A380, and it's quite plausible they wouldn't have developed it without the A380. That said, com

I don't think there's any question that it was a response to the A380, and it's quite plausible they wouldn't have developed it without the A380. That said, compared with the A380 development the 747-8 will have been cheap to develop, and had an impact on the market as a whole even if it scarcely made much money.