The people buying high end do care about the brand and reputation. They accept to pay inflated prices for a well known brand, but would not buy at a discounted price a retail store brand. Brand and reputation communicates quality.
Does that company have a history of building quality products? Do they support them when something breaks? What kind of reputation do they have?
When you buy a brand name product, you generally have a better idea what you're buying.
(Not to say there aren't some high quality generic products out there, but it takes a lot more time and research to find them. And sometimes it's just a gamble.)
Obviously, this implied value gets taken too far on both sides.