Many people do need the tape loop, for one reason or another. Plus, it's not something you can disaggregate and sell separately as another overpriced little box. So if you leave it off, all those people won't even look at your product.
Whereas leaving off the phono input doesn't automatically exclude any potential customer, since outboard phono stages are available. Doing it this way actually makes good business sense for a company like NAD. It lowers the cost of the integrated, and it gets to sell a second box to anyone who listens to vinyl. Since older, more affluent audiophiles are more likely to have vinyl collections, it's charging them more while making it more affordable for the younger crowd.
Whereas leaving off the phono input doesn't automatically exclude any potential customer, since outboard phono stages are available. Doing it this way actually makes good business sense for a company like NAD. It lowers the cost of the integrated, and it gets to sell a second box to anyone who listens to vinyl. Since older, more affluent audiophiles are more likely to have vinyl collections, it's charging them more while making it more affordable for the younger crowd.