The notion that the App Store is the only marketplace that can deliver serious profits to developers is beginning to be eradicated, the maker of Android app Car Locator revealing that he now rakes in $13,000 a month.
Developer Edward Kim made the revelation in a blog post, unsurprisingly titled "An Android Success Story". According to Kim, early sales of Car Locator brought in $20 a day, but the app's rise to prominance began when it won second place in the Android Developer Challenge 2.
"The application was netting an average of about $80-$100/day, until it became a featured app on the Marketplace. Since then, sales have been phenomenal, netting an average of $435/day, with a one day record of $772 on Valentine's Day," Kim claims.
"Some may be quick to point out that a featured Android application is only able to net $400/day, while top iPhone apps make thousands.
"But the Android market appears to rotate applications in and out of the featured apps list in some pseudo-random fashion. Every time I open the Marketplace app, the featured list is different and most of the time, I dont even see my app on there."
Simple success
The free version of Car Locator has been downloaded 70,000 times according to Kim's own stats. The full $3.99 release - which, Kim notes, didn't suffer when its price was raised from $1.99 - has notched up 6,950 downloads.
What's even more encouraging for Android developers is that all this has been achieved without Car Locator topping the charts.
According to Kim, it briefly reached #4 in the Travel category for paid apps, but the majority of the game's revenue seems to have been generated from steady sales rather than a quick blast to the top of the pile before falling back down again.
Kim's eye-opening stats come just days after Glu CEO Niccolo de Masi suggested that Android Market struggles when compared to the App Store. He suggested the platform's lack of maturity makes it hard for studios to make significant money from their releases.
ReadWriteWeb
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
Feature
May 20th, 2024
Hot Five: AppLovin revenue surges 48% Y/Y, Plarium and Big Fish up for sale, and a look inside Merge Mansion's growth
Feature
May 20th, 2024
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
For The Win 2024 | Europe | May 29th |