Not an entirely fair comment. The original A340 was conceived in the mid-80's, some time before the higher thrust twin engines the 777 uses were available. Also before the longer ETOPS regs came in. Put simply, the A340 mission just could not be achieved with two engines at the time of the design freeze.
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Not quite. Airbus was relying on the (PW?) geared turbo fan to power the A340. That project failed so the 340 had to settle for underpowered engines (for its size) such as the CFM56 and the IAE V2500.
Airbus could have made the 330 competitive rangewise with the 340 but chose not to put a centre fuel tank in the 330 limiting its range so as not to cannibalise 340 sales.
Don't think for one minute that the whole A330/340 program has not been a huge financial success for Airbus.
Helped by the fact the 340/330 had a fuselage based on ther 300/310, albeit with a new wing and flight controls.
The 345/346 investment was probably a financial disaster though.