Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Basis of Presentation/Balance Sheet Information [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. For further information, refer to the audited consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Nature of Operations

PCTEL is a global leader in propagation and optimization solutions for the wireless industry. The Company designs and develops software-based radios (scanning receivers) for wireless network optimization and develops and distributes innovative antenna solutions.

The Company designs, distributes, and supports innovative antenna solutions for public safety applications, unlicensed and licensed wireless broadband, fleet management, network timing, and other global positioning systems (“GPS”) applications. The Company’s portfolio of scanning receivers and interference management solutions are used to measure, monitor and optimize cellular networks.

Antenna Products

PCTEL’s MAXRAD^®, Bluewave™ and Wi-Sys™ antenna solutions address public safety, military, and government applications; supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”), health care, energy, smart grid and agricultural applications; indoor wireless, wireless backhaul, and cellular applications. Revenue growth for antenna products is driven by emerging wireless applications in these markets. The Company’s portfolio includes a broad range of WiMAX antennas, land mobile radio (“LMR”) antennas, and precision GPS antennas that serve innovative applications in telemetry, radio frequency identification (“RFID”), WiFi, fleet management, and mesh networks. The Company’s antenna products are primarily sold through distributors and original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) providers.

The Company established its current antenna product portfolio with a series of acquisitions. In 2004 the Company acquired MAXRAD, Inc. (“MAXRAD”), as well as certain product lines from Andrew Corporation (“Andrew”), which established its core product offerings in WiFi, LMR and GPS. Over the next several years the Company added additional capabilities within those product lines and additional served markets with the acquisition of certain assets from Bluewave Antenna Systems, Ltd (“Bluewave”) in 2008, and the acquisitions of Wi-Sys Communications, Inc (“Wi-Sys”) in 2009, and Sparco Technologies, Inc. (“Sparco”) in 2010. The Company’s WiMAX antenna products were developed and brought to market through the Company’s ongoing operations.

Scanning Receivers and Optimization Services

PCTEL is a leading supplier of high-speed, multi-standard, demodulating receivers and test and measurement solutions to the wireless industry worldwide. The Company’s SeeGull ^® scanning receivers, receiver-based products and CLARIFY ^® interference management solutions are used to measure, monitor and optimize cellular networks. Revenue growth for scanning receiver and interference management products is driven by the deployment of new wireless technology and the need for wireless networks to be tuned and reconfigured on a regular basis. The Company develops and supports scanning receivers for LTE, EVDO, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, TD-SCDMA, and WiMAX networks. The Company’s scanning receiver products are sold primarily through test and measurement value added resellers and, to a lesser extent, directly to network operators.

The Company established its scanning receiver product portfolio in 2003 with the acquisition of certain assets of Dynamic Telecommunications, Inc. In 2009 the Company acquired the scanning receiver business of Ascom Network Testing, Inc (“Ascom”) as well as the exclusive distribution rights and patented technology for Wider Network LLC’s (“Wider”) network interference products.

On October 25, 2011, the Company purchased certain assets from Envision Wireless Inc. (“Envision”), an engineering services business based in Melbourne, Florida. The Company paid $1.5 million to acquire this network engineering service (“NES”) business including customer relationships, accounts receivable and fixed assets. The NES business focuses on the radio frequency (“RF”) issues pertaining to in-building coverage and capacity and its target market is relevant to our antenna and scanning receiver businesses. NES provides value-added analysis of collected data to public cellular carriers, network infrastructure providers, and real estate companies.

The Company also has an intellectual property portfolio related to antennas, the mounting of antennas, and scanning receivers. These patents are being held for defensive purposes and are not part of an active licensing program.

Secure applications

On January 5, 2011, the Company formed PCTEL Secure LLC (“PCTEL Secure”), a joint venture limited liability company, with Eclipse Design Technologies, Inc. (“Eclipse”). PCTEL Secure designs Android-based, secure communication products. The Company contributed $2.5 million in cash in return for 51% ownership of the joint venture and Eclipse contributed $2.4 million of intangible assets in return for 49% ownership of the joint venture.

Segment reporting

The Company operates in two segments for reporting purposes. Beginning with the formation of PCTEL Secure in January 2011, we report the financial results of PCTEL Secure as a separate operating segment. Because PCTEL Secure is a joint venture, we make decisions regarding allocation of resources separate from the rest of the Company. Our chief operating decision maker uses the profit and loss results and the assets of the segments in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance between the segments.

Basis of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2012 and the condensed consolidated statements of operations, statements of comprehensive loss, and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively are unaudited and reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the interim period financial statements. The interim condensed consolidated financial statements are derived from the audited financial statements as of December 31, 2011.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of PCTEL Secure. Because the Company has a 51% ownership interest in PCTEL Secure, 49% of PCTEL Secure’s net loss is recorded as noncontrolling interest in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and March 31, 2011, and 49% of the equity in PCTEL Secure is recorded as noncontrolling interest. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. have been condensed or omitted. The significant accounting policies followed by the Company are set forth within the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 (“the 2011 Form 10-K”). There were no changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2012. In addition, the Company reaffirms the use of estimates in the preparation of the financial statements as set forth in the 2011 Form 10-K. These interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the 2011 Form 10-K. The results for the operations for the period ended March 31, 2012 may not be indicative of the results for the period ending December 31, 2012.

Foreign Currency Translation

The Company is exposed to foreign currency fluctuations due to its foreign operations and because products are sold internationally. The functional currency for the Company’s foreign operations is predominantly the applicable local currency. Accounts of foreign operations are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate in effect at the applicable balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and average monthly rates prevailing during the period for revenue and expense accounts. Adjustments resulting from translation are included in accumulated other comprehensive income, a separate component of shareholders’ equity. Gains and losses resulting from other transactions originally in foreign currencies and then translated into U.S. dollars are included in the condensed consolidated statement of operations. Net foreign exchange losses resulting from foreign currency transactions included in other income, net were $10 and $8 for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Recent Accounting Guidance

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an amendment to its guidance on fair value measurements and disclosures. The amendments generally represent clarification of fair value measurements, but also include instances where a particular principle or requirement for measuring fair value or disclosing information about fair value measurements has changed. This update results in common principles and requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements in accordance with GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. The amendment also expands the disclosures for fair value measurements that are estimated using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3). The amendments became effective for the period ending March 31, 2012. The adoption of this amendment did not impact the Company’s consolidated financial statements.