I'm not so sure about that. They cater to a different market and they barely compete with other carriers. E.g. they compete with European carriers on EU-Asia, EU - OZ/NZ routes and EU-Middle East routes, and with US carriers mainly on US-Middle East routes. Not being directly in competition on TATL and TPAC routes, I don't think they make that big of a difference overall. While the gulf carriers have lavish int'l F cabins, US carriers have been moving away from that direction.

The true difference, IMO, is when a major US carrier introduces something new. Then everyone has to follow suit.