Android smart phones have gotten a lot of mindshare since the Droid was introduced in November 2009. But, total Android sales are just a tiny fraction of the iPhone’s massive sales. So, what can an Android developer earn for a paid app? Not much, right? Well, according to this report from one developer is “yes and no”…

An Android Success Story: $13,000/month App Sales

Edward Kim’s “Car Locator” app was good enough to win 3rd place in Google’s Android Developer Challenge 2. However, it spent the period between September 2009 and January 2010 making between a few dollars per day to $100 per day (very respectable for an app developed as a hobbies). Then, the app was featured into the Androd Market and sales vaulted to an average of $435 per day. Edward also found that raising the apps price from $1.99 to $3.99 didn’t scare off a proportional number of customers. In other words, raising the price increasing profitability and total revenue. He is making about $13,000 per month at the moment.

There are, I think, a couple of important lessons to learn from Edward Kim’s tale:

1. It pays to get noticed! (featured in the Android Market). Get the word out about your app if you aren’t featured

2. Don’t be afraid to go break the iPhone app pricing model.

3. You can make more money per day with a hit iPhone app, but there is money to be made developing for Android