[robski]

Yes I think this is true of many products. I suspect they are graded and the low grade versions are then sold on to become cheap unbranded.

If I recall correctly video magnetic tape was made in 12 foot wide stripes. The high quality center section was keep for themselves and the outside offcuts were sold off and used to make low grade budget tapes.

I've seen the same sort of thing with hard disks. A model of drive supplied in a top name server seems to last much longer than other sources.