Acquisitions (Details) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended													12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)		Sep. 27, 2014 USD ($)		Jun. 28, 2014 USD ($)		Mar. 29, 2014 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)		Sep. 28, 2013 USD ($)		Jun. 29, 2013 USD ($)		Mar. 30, 2013 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Customer Relationships [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Customer Relationships [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 Other Intangible Assets [Member] Years	Dec. 31, 2013 Other Intangible Assets [Member] Years	Dec. 31, 2013 ComputerLinks [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 ComputerLinks [Member] Customer Relationships [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 ComputerLinks [Member] Customer Relationships [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 ComputerLinks [Member] Other Intangible Assets [Member] USD ($) Years	Dec. 31, 2014 Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member] USD ($) Acquisitions	Dec. 31, 2013 Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member] USD ($) Acquisitions	Dec. 31, 2012 Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member] USD ($) Acquisitions	Feb. 28, 2015 Computacenter UK Ltd. [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 Computacenter UK Ltd. [Member] EUR (€)	Jan. 31, 2015 Data Modul AG [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Data Modul AG [Member] EUR (€)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life																							10 years	10 years				9 years
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid																											$ 313,209				$ 162,881	$ 80,210	$ 289,782	$ 87,000	€ 58,000	$ 105,000	€ 94,000
Cash Acquired from Acquisition																											20,981
Sales	6,396,879		5,613,216		5,676,539		5,082,040		6,153,360		5,048,211		5,306,085		4,849,629		22,768,674		21,357,285		20,405,128						208,177
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Receivables																											177,700
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Inventory																											58,041
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Other																											11,168
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Property, Plant, and Equipment																											7,070
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Other Noncurrent Assets																											1,480
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill																											39,195
Goodwill	2,069,209	[1]							2,039,293	[1]							2,069,209	[1]	2,039,293	[1]	1,711,703	[1]					275,442
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities, Accounts Payable																											(213,456)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities																											(51,270)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Other																											(13,142)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net																											292,228
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross																													37,125
Other Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross																														2,070
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross																											39,195
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life, Minimum																									2	1				1
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life, Maximum																									3	3				2
Number of Businesses Acquired																															5	4	7
Business Acquisition, Contingent Consideration, at Fair Value																															5,853	4,498	10,390
Business Combination, Other Amounts Withheld																															210
Net income attributable to shareholders	116,177	[2]	146,864	[3]	127,884	[4]	107,120	[5]	134,831	[6]	96,779	[7]	89,935	[8]	77,875	[9]	498,045		399,420		506,332
Basic	$ 1.20	[10],[2]	$ 1.49	[10],[3]	$ 1.29	[10],[4]	$ 1.07	[10],[5]	$ 1.34	[6]	$ 0.96	[7]	$ 0.87	[8]	$ 0.74	[9]	$ 5.05		$ 3.89		$ 4.64
Diluted	$ 1.18	[10],[2]	$ 1.47	[10],[3]	$ 1.27	[10],[4]	$ 1.06	[10],[5]	$ 1.32	[6]	$ 0.95	[7]	$ 0.86	[8]	$ 0.72	[9]	$ 4.98	[11]	$ 3.85	[11]	$ 4.56	[11]
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Revenue																			22,191,263		21,433,912
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Net Income (Loss)																			408,290		524,943
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Basic																			$ 3.98		$ 4.81
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Diluted																			$ 3.94		$ 4.73
Purchase of subsidiary shares from noncontrolling interest																					$ 2,526

[1] The total carrying value of cost in excess of net assets of companies acquired for all periods in the table above is reflected net of $1,018,780 of accumulated impairment charges, of which $716,925 was recorded in the global components business segment and $301,855 was recorded in the global ECS business segment.

[2] restructuring, integration, and other charges ($11,222 net of related taxes or $.12 and $.11 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively)

[3] restructuring, integration, and other charges ($2,556 net of related taxes or $.03 per share on both a basic and diluted basis)

[4] restructuring, integration, and other charges ($7,526 net of related taxes or $.08 and $.07 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively).

[5] Includes amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets ($8,907 net of related taxes or $.09 per share on both a basic and diluted basis) and restructuring, integration, and other charges ($8,020 net of related taxes or $.08 per share on both a basic and diluted basis)

[6] restructuring, integration, and other charges ($13,341 net of related taxes or $.13 per share on both a basic and diluted basis). Also included is an increase in the provision for income taxes ($15,447 net of related taxes or $.16 per share on both a basic and diluted basis) and interest expense ($297 net of related taxes) related to the settlement of certain international tax matters.

[7] Includes amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets ($7,074 net of related taxes or $.07 per share on both a basic and diluted basis) and restructuring, integration, and other charges ($16,077 net of related taxes or $.16 per share on both a basic and diluted basis).

[8] Includes amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets ($7,029 net of related taxes or $.07 per share on both a basic and diluted basis) and restructuring, integration, and other charges ($20,688 net of related taxes or $.20 per share on both a basic and diluted basis).

[9] restructuring, integration, and other charges ($15,495 net of related taxes or $.15 and $.14 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively), and a loss on prepayment of debt ($2,627 net of related taxes or $.02 per share on both a basic and diluted basis).

[10] Quarterly net income per share is calculated using the weighted-average shares outstanding during each quarterly period, while net income per share for the full year is calculated using the weighted-average shares outstanding during the year. Therefore, the sum of the net income per share for each of the four quarters may not equal the net income per share for the full year.

[11] Stock-based compensation awards for the issuance of 294 shares, 874 shares, and 1,424 shares for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, were excluded from the computation of net income per share on a diluted basis as their effect was anti-dilutive.