Smith Micro sells its software solutions to major wireless network and cable operators. For CommSuite and Netwise products, the Company may provide customization services for a fee to ensure the Company’s software solution can operate on the customer’s operating platforms and the operating platform of the mobile devices of Smith Micro’s customer’s end users. In addition, since the mobile device OEMs change their operating systems regularly, Smith Micro provides maintenance services to ensure utility of the software license is not diminished for the Company’s customers. Smith Micro considers the customization services, the software license, and maintenance services to maintain the utility of the software license for its customers as a single performance obligation. The Company provides the perpetual license on a royalty free basis. Revenue related to customization services, if charged, is recognized at a point in time upon delivery and acceptance of the customized software license by the customer.

To support the CommSuite and Netwise solutions, Smith Micro also provides customers with its hosted environment and Application Service Provider (“ASP”) services for the duration of the license term. The Company considers the provision of these services to be a separate performance obligation. In these transactions, the total consideration expected is variable. The Company does not estimate when the variable consideration will be recognized because the License Usage Based Fees, Hosting Service Fees and ASP Advertising Fees relate specifically to the Company’s efforts to transfer the services for a specified period (month or quarter) which are distinct from the services provided in other specified periods. Smith Micro’s customer’s or the customer’s end customer’s usage occurs within the defined period, and the variability of Smith Micro’s license, hosting and ASP fees is resolved in the specified period, and such fees earned are not subject to adjustment based on the activity in other periods.

Smith Micro earns revenue from these services on a fixed fee per perpetual license usage on its hosted environment and advertising revenue share for advertisements placed by its customers on the Company’s platform. The usage fees are not earned until Smith Micro transfers its software license to its customers. The Company recognizes the usage-based fees when it is entitled to the consideration earned for the distinct service period based on its customer’s usage of its licenses, hosting services, and ASP advertising platform (“hosted environment usage fees”).

Smith Micro’s SafePath solution is a hybrid Software as a Service (“SaaS”) offering. The Company considers the provision of the perpetual license and the cloud-based platform as a single performance obligation. The Company provides the perpetual license on a royalty free basis and earns revenue based on a fixed fee usage of its cloud-based services. Smith Micro recognizes the usage-based fees when it is entitled to the consideration earned for the distinct service period based on its customer’s usage of its cloud-based services.

Smith Micro acquired certain assets from Circle, including a source code license to Circle’s parental control software solution and two customer contracts. Pursuant to these contracts, the customer parties thereto license the parental control software solution for distribution to their respective subscribers in designated markets. In each case, the contracts allow the customer to take possession of the software solution and to host it on their platform or with an independent third-party hosting service provider without significant cost. Smith Micro also provide significant services that are required by the customer to ensure they have the utility of the software license. As the license to the software solution and the services the Company provides are highly interrelated, Smith Micro has concluded that the license and its services are a single performance obligation. The license fee is earned and recognized on a pro-rata basis over the contract term based on the customer’s continued use of the license and the Company’s services

ViewSpot product is a cloud-based platform that its MNO customers use to display its promotional content to mobile devices being sold in its retail outlets. Using this solution, the MNOs have the ability to promote specific mobile devices in targeted geographic retail locations and monitor the efficacy of the promotions and the mobile device user’s behavior to the targeted advertising. Smith Micro sells a royalty free license, consulting services to configure the advertising content so that it can be displayed on targeted mobile devices, and cloud-based services to serve the advertising content and capture end consumer’s behavior on the mobile device. ViewSpot services depend on a significant level of integration, interdependency, and interrelation between the on-premise applications, consulting services and the cloud services, and are accounted for together as a single performance obligation. The ViewSpot services are sold on a fixed fee basis to Smith Micro’s customers based on pre-defined purchase order. Since Smith Micro is obligated to provide the required services over the contract period, the revenue is recognized over time.

From time to time, the Company also provides consulting services to configure ad hoc targeted promotional content for Smith Micro’s customers upon request. These requests are driven by the customers’ marketing initiatives and tend to be short term “bursts” of activity. Smith Micro recognizes revenues from these ad hoc services at a point in time which is upon delivery of the configured promotional content to the cloud platform.

Smith Micro has developed a roadmap for adding new functionality to its wireless products to extend the product lifecycle and expand its customer’s use of the product on their networks. From time to time, the Company enters into consulting services arrangements with its customers to develop incremental functionality not included on the developmental roadmap. The Company earns revenue from these consulting services that is recognized at the time of delivery of the software when the services have been completed and control has been transferred to the customers.

The Company also enters into arrangements with certain customers to provide technology support services beyond the initial warranty period. Technology support services include e-mail and telephone support and unspecified rights to bug fixes available on a when-and-if available basis. Smith Micro considers the provision of such technology support services to be a separate performance obligation which is generally billed in advance for a fixed term and recognized as revenue ratably over the contractual term as the Company performs its services.

In 2020 and prior, Smith Micro sold off-the-shelf Graphics software products directly to end users as well as through its distribution and reseller channel partners. These products required no customization and minimal post-sale technology support services. The Company recognized revenue from software sales at the time it

transferred control of the product to the customer. This occurred upon shipment of the product or when the customer downloaded the software from the Company’s website or website of Smith Micro’s distributor and resellers partners. In some instances, Smith Micro consigned its software products to a distributor or reseller. In those instances, Smith Micro recognized revenue when the end consumer takes control of the product. Smith Micro offered a 30 day return policy to its customers and a return reserve was established at the time revenue was recorded. The Company reviewed available retail channel information and made a determination of a return provision for sales made to distributors and retailers based on current channel inventory levels and historical return patterns. The return reserve was monitored and adjusted based on actual experience. Historically, returns were insignificant.

Deferred revenue represents amounts billed to customers for which revenue has not been recognized. Deferred revenue primarily consists of the unearned portion of monthly, quarterly, and annually billed service fees and prepayments made by customers for a future period. Smith Micro recognizes revenue upon transfer of control. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company’s total deferred revenue balance was $0.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively, of which $0.1 and $1.5 million, respectively, were related to the acquisition of the Circle operator business.

As discussed in Note 4, during the first quarter of 2021, Smith Micro received a customer contract termination notice related to a customer contract acquired in the acquisition of Circle’s operator business, which was otherwise set to expire in the second quarter of 2024. The contract was terminated effective April 15, 2021; however, in accordance with its terms, Smith Micro continues to deliver wind-down services under the contract. While the terms of the contract allow for a wind-down period of up to two years post termination, the Company expects to continue services under this contract through 2022. The Company determined the customer contract should be accounted for under the contract modification guidance in Topic 606. As a result, the Company recognized deferred revenue of $0.6 million which was being amortized over the customer contract term with the remaining $0.3 million being amortized over the remaining service period. Additionally, the Company reviewed its customer contract intangible asset associated with this customer contract and determined that the carrying value was in excess of its fair value. Accordingly, the Company recorded a $1.5 million impairment charge within “amortization of intangible assets” in the consolidated statements of operations during the year ended December 31, 2021 with the remaining $0.4 million being amortized over the remaining service period.

The Company generally pays sales commissions to its sales force, which are incremental and recoverable costs of acquiring contracts. In most instances, sales commissions are only paid when the Company earns usage-based fees on the contracts. The commission obligation is established each quarter based on the usage-based fees earned. The commission obligation is not adjusted by future usage-based fees earned, that is each period is discrete from the other. As a result of the structure of the commission plan, Smith Micro records the commission expense when the commission obligation is determined, which is generally quarterly.

Certain provisions of the sales commission plan incentivize and recognize the efforts of eligible participants to earn commissions on future revenue generated on new contracts, sale of a new product to an existing contract, or sale of a product to a different group within an existing customer. The sales commissions are tiered based on the opportunity size. Sales commissions paid under these provisions of the sales commission plan are incremental contract acquisition costs, and accordingly are recorded as a deferred contract asset that is amortized on a straight-line basis over the average contract life of the new, renewed, and modified contract.

The Company incurs costs to fulfill obligations under a contract which are recognized as the Company fulfills its performance obligation and recognizes revenue. Where the Company provides services and earns revenue over the contract term based on usage of Smith Micro’s platforms, the associated fulfillment costs are recognized as they are incurred and as usage-based revenue is recognized.

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021		2020
License and service fees	$	3,730	$	3,575
Hosted environment usage fees		13,770		18,209
Cloud based usage fees		38,415		25,973
Consulting services and other		2,507		3,543
Total revenues	$	58,422	$	51,300