It's infinitely faster to enter numbers using a numpad, and some people do that a lot.

that really depends on the count of numbers you're entering. how often do you type in a long list of numbers?

I can enter numbers faster on the number keys than I can on the numpad for most tasks. I've never really needed a numpad in 30 years

A huge percentage of people use computers for data entry. Many of them are accountants. Some even predate computers — but not calculators. Having the calculator form factor is critical for folks doing math all day.

I spent 7 years in Wall Street doing math all day and never used the numpad. Not all of us care about it...

FWIW, I grew up using T9 on features phones. I don't get the point of having QWERTY keyboards on smartphones.

Good for you, but I never claimed nobody preferred T9 phones over QWERTY, unlike the OP who said "kids these days" prefer TKL, which is just inaccurate.