There’s been plenty written about the App Store gold rush, but this is the first rags-to-semi-riches piece I’ve seen about the Android Market. Edward Kim, creator of the Car Locator app, saw his daily revenue jump from around $100 per day to more than $400 per day when the $3.99 app claimed a featured spot in the Market.
It’s only one data point, but I’m interested in the broader implications here. Those early “there’s gold in iPhone apps!” stories fueled interest in the platform. And while a lot of that iPhone excitement was later tempered by the realities of a hit-driven business, that first flush of exuberance was an important step.
If similar stories pop up in the Android universe — legit stories, I’m not advocating lies and fabrications — I see that catalyzing more developer interest, more competition, more refinement (something that’s sorely needed in the Android Market), and ultimately, a more robust Android app ecosystem. That’s a lot of “mores,” I know, but after three-plus months of using an Android device, my enthusiasm for this platform continues to grow. Apps like Google Goggles and Google Sky Map are amazing. What I’d like to see, however, is broader Android experimentation by companies not named Google.