Connectors add cost plus the labor (crimping etc). While soldering wires is the same operation as he rest of the soldering. Ring terminals are even worse, require barrier blocks or such.
They were trying to stay competitive.
I still believe that, when looking at this period of radio in context, that Philco's "Unit Construction" was their answer to RCA's "Magic Brain". Only, the high end "Magic Brain" sets were designed so that one could remove four nuts and unplug a cable, then remove their RF unit. With the Philco, one had to disassemble the dial assembly, unsolder a dozen or more wires, remove the volume control shaft, pull the unit and then have fun trying to get to those semi-hidden paper caps deep inside the RF unit.
In short, Grimes' Folly (in my opinion).