In the interest of disclosure I'm a Boeing stockholder, however I think they screwed the pooch with their outsourcing on the 787.

Their plan to outsource a fairly large percentage of the aircraft was not based solely on being able to purchase parts cheaper. A major reason was "risk-sharing" whereby the companies who would be supplying parts for the 787 shared some of the risk involved.

But having said all that, while this sounds great on paper it has been a disaster for Boeing. After the A-380 fiasco, the 787 introduction was an opportunity for Boeing to show the world "how to do it right". Instead they screwed up royally. Any financial savings from outsourcing have been exceeded many time over by the delays and damage to the company's [former] stellar reputation.

Furthermore as we are discussing this, Boeing has more or less ceded the 100 seat aircraft market to Bombardier and the 737 NG series is a mediocre airplane. I believe they should be aggressively pursuing both of those market segments.