Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 03, 2014		Dec. 28, 2012		Dec. 30, 2011
Income Statement [Abstract]
Product	$ 1,649,965		$ 1,566,975		$ 1,345,876
Service	364,274		262,889		159,095
Subscription	273,885		210,249		139,094
Total revenues	2,288,124	[1]	2,040,113	[1]	1,644,065	[1]
Product	776,597		767,526		663,868
Service	141,904		100,286		71,470
Subscription	84,682		65,847		41,949
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	81,119		60,277		37,197
Total cost of sales	1,084,302		993,936		814,484
Gross margin	1,203,822		1,046,177		829,581
Operating expense
Research and development	299,421		256,458		197,007
Sales and marketing	348,106		313,692		266,804
General and administrative	216,876		195,802		158,375
Restructuring charges	5,960		2,227		2,288
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	81,722		65,430		48,705
Total operating expense	952,085		833,609		673,179
Operating income	251,737		212,568		156,402
Non-operating income, net
Interest expense, net	(17,582)		(16,357)		(7,277)
Foreign currency transaction gain (loss), net	(954)		(2,526)		1,053
Income from equity method investments, net	20,680		24,727		15,349
Other income (loss), net	(1,017)		11,012		1,927
Total non-operating income, net	1,127		16,856		11,052
Income before taxes	252,864		229,424		167,454
Income tax provision	34,698		39,708		18,545
Net income	218,166		189,716		148,909
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(689)		(1,344)		(1,846)
Net income attributable to Trimble Navigation Ltd.	$ 218,855		$ 191,060		$ 150,755
Basic earnings per share	$ 0.85		$ 0.76		$ 0.61
Shares used in calculating basic earnings per share	256,648		251,132		245,450
Diluted earnings per share	$ 0.84		$ 0.74		$ 0.60
Shares used in calculating diluted earnings per share	261,206		256,774		252,266

[1] Revenue is attributed to countries based on the location of the customer.