In what may, at the surface level, appear to be a self-defeating strategy being adopted by Google, the Internet search giant is apparently making the devices of its rival, Apple, increasing appealing by prolifically developing apps for the iPhone.

While the strategy appears somewhat perplexing in the wake of the fact that the relations between Apple and Google have been deteriorating over time, analysts and tech executives are of the opinion that Google is actually gaining from creating apps for its biggest competitor.

According to experts, Google strategy to develop popular apps for Apple devices, particularly the iPhone, is the company's clear acknowledgement of the fact that it intends reaching out to the huge market of iPhone users.

For Google, the wide iPhone users' audience is a potential target for ads, as this particular segment of smartphone owners can yield substantial amounts of data which can help Google bring about an improvement in the online products that generate a major portion of the company's overall profits.

Noting that the apps which Google develops for the iPhone can also help the company build a deeper connection with smartphone, thereby underscoring the likelihood of a complete switch-over to Android handsets at some point of time, Altimeter Group's mobile analyst Chris Silva said: "The best way to recruit users to those (Android) devices is to get them using the (Google) services."