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Variable client power may be just a matter of cost. When you are building tens (or hundreds) of thousands of devices, saving just a small amount of the cost (in the radio chipset) starts adding up to a lot of money. Extra features, in this case variable power, sometimes cost more.

My company has built many units with fixed output levels - usually 16 dBm for 802.11b and 13 dBm for 'g'.

As time goes forward, you'll probably find manufacturers ordering more variable RF power units, but then giving customers control over that "feature" is a whole other matter. Sometimes it is a compliance issue, sometimes a design issue, and sometimes it is an international sales issue - not all countries allow the same power levels.

Our main concern is battery life, and if it works at a good range, battery life wins the argument.