@Noraweed Space is space, payload is payload, all you have to do is crack open the new laptops to find out where the space is going. Easier offloading a ton of the USB spectrum into a self contained mission package that's optional than to integrate it.
Obviously nobody wants ports all that much because even the autistic dream laptop that came out has the same selection as any other "ultrabook". Companies chase the average dollar, the ones grumbling about this (us) probably aren't dropping $4700 on a new laptop every year, anyways.