Why are there 8 cables in that Lightning extension?

Thanks for your response.

Yes, basically the other end of that extension is a Male lightning plug that you plug into an iDevice. But it is wobbly and I would like to replace it with a more robust genuine Lightning cable. (essentially cutting the USB-A end of that genuine USB-to-Lightning cable, and soldering the Lightning end onto the extension plug pictured above.

Why is it that an extension has 8 wires, but the USB-to-Lightning cable has 4?

@Alex222 - Cables have different purposes!

The number of wires will always be the lessor matching the number of contacts of the connector with fewer contacts. So in your case USB-A is either USB-2 (4 contacts) or USB-3 (8 contacts) wiring.

Presently Lighting to USB-A is four wired. A straight through Lighting cables will have eight wires.

For example there are six different USB-C cable setups! Wait until you try dealing with them ;-{