I still don't get it. What problem they're trying to avoid?
It's exactly the same if two extensions would currently try to manipulate the page by adding a frame (or, worse, a <div> with non-isolated UI) to the same location.
The only difference is, with out-of-page widgets (e.g. overlay regions or popouts), they won't be visible in the page's DOM.
Interestingly, Firefox's sidebar API only allows a single sidebar to be shown.