There is some, for some, real benefit and pleasure of taking photos silently - like a range finder, maybe even quieter if you turn off all the beeps and so on. And with electronic curtain, really silent. Just one aspect - it's different to a DSLR.
Image quality, from a technical perspective, no - of course not. But different sizes, weights, sounds, speeds, etc. - all these things and more could make significant changes in certain scenarios. If it were pure marketing, it wouldn't have lasted and blossomed.