I'm not certain whether it's just certain piano manufacturers, who had decided to have some upright pianos to have two pedals (without sostenuto). Some Zender acoustic pianos, for instance have two pedals. Then other brands like Kawai, had a few pianos with 2 pedals while most of their models have 3.
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As you may be aware, most, if not all studio/acoustic pianos have minimum two pedals - the soft, or una corda pedal, and the sustain, or damper pedal.
The third pedal (in the middle) found on some pianos, is a practice pedal, which locks in position. Usually this involves bringing a curtain in place between the hammers and the strings, to make it very quiet, even when played hard, in order to be able to practise without disturbing too many others.
On other pianos, the middle pedal is dedicated to sostenuto, whereby it holds the dampers off only the strings that are vibrating, and their keys pressed down, at the time the pedal is depressed - a sort of sustain for individual notes only.
Obviously, a sostenuto pedal will add to the cost of an acoustic piano, and will usually be used by more advanced players. They can be found on uprights, but are more common on grands. So the answer to your question is that most players won't use the sostenuto - it isn't marked in a lot of pieces - so far more 'ordinary' uprights will be marketable.
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Are you sure? I've only ever seen the curtain between the hammers and strings instead of the traditional (and more aptly named) una corda pedal, because it's more expensive or more difficult to have the whole keyboard move slightly to one side. The cheapest pedal arrangements I've seen have omitted sostenuto and replaced actual una corda with the felt curtain (obviously on uprights). I've never seen una corda and the curtain on the same piano. Commented Jul 21, 2017 at 11:25
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@ToddWilcox - I use one in my studio - it's a Yamaha harp in a Steigerman case. The una corda pedal merely moves all the hammers closer to the strings, just as on every upright I've ever played. Mine has a curtain about 3" high that swings into place using the middle pedal. Una corda so called because it slides the hammers to one side (on grands) so they only hit one string rather than the 2 or 3.– TimCommented Jul 21, 2017 at 11:37
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I've never seen the mute strip on a grand piano. I've never seen a true 'una corda' on an upright.– LaurenceCommented Jul 21, 2017 at 11:47
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1@LaurencePayne - that's probably because grands don't need mute strips, difficult to achieve on grands; and 'una corda' is only technically correct on grands - a.k.a. soft pedal on studios. And actually, I'm talking about uprights - maybe the OP means grands...– TimCommented Jul 21, 2017 at 12:02
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1@LukeSawczak - interesting! Mozart pianos stopped in 1920, so yours may be one of the last. I suspect the middle pedal was there for the optional sostenuto (common in US and probably Canada), or as a practice device - for extra cost.– TimCommented Jun 29, 2021 at 13:44