According to Marissa Sertich Velie in her online article “What’s the Difference Between Jam, Jelly, Compote and Conserve? on the website serious eats:
<<Compote can be made with fresh or dried fruit (whole or cut into pieces) that’s slowly cooked in a sugar syrup (sometimes containing liquor and spices). Slow cooking is important for the fruit to maintain its shape.
The Culinary Institute of America considers compote to be one of two types of fruit sauce: there’s coulis, made with smooth, pureed fruit and then there’s compote, which is a chunky mixture. While preserves and conserves are typically jarred, compotes are often (although not always) made and used immediately as a component of a dish. Compote applications can be either sweet or savory.>>
I think from this we can take that the key here is slow heat as opposed to a hot boil required for jam making.
Philosophising... 