Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 02, 2015		Jan. 03, 2014		Dec. 28, 2012
Income Statement [Abstract]
Product	$ 1,713,564		$ 1,649,965		$ 1,566,975
Service	396,062		364,274		262,889
Subscription	285,920		273,885		210,249
Total revenues	2,395,546	[1]	2,288,124	[1]	2,040,113	[1]
Product	788,114		776,597		767,526
Service	152,612		141,904		100,286
Subscription	81,063		84,682		65,847
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	82,913		81,119		60,277
Total cost of sales	1,104,702		1,084,302		993,936
Gross margin	1,290,844		1,203,822		1,046,177
Operating expense
Research and development	317,992		299,421		256,458
Sales and marketing	387,569		348,106		313,692
General and administrative	247,120		216,876		195,802
Restructuring charges	1,741		5,960		2,227
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	75,599		81,722		65,430
Total operating expense	1,030,021		952,085		833,609
Operating income	260,823		251,737		212,568
Non-operating income, net
Interest expense, net	(18,681)		(17,582)		(16,357)
Foreign currency transaction loss, net	(5,084)		(954)		(2,526)
Income from equity method investments, net	12,368		20,680		24,727
Other income (loss), net	16,589		(1,017)		11,012
Total non-operating income, net	5,192		1,127		16,856
Income before taxes	266,015		252,864		229,424
Income tax provision	52,127		34,698		39,708
Net income	213,888		218,166		189,716
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(230)		(689)		(1,344)
Net income attributable to Trimble Navigation Ltd.	$ 214,118		$ 218,855		$ 191,060
Basic earnings per share	$ 0.82		$ 0.85		$ 0.76
Shares used in calculating basic earnings per share	260,103		256,648		251,132
Diluted earnings per share	$ 0.81		$ 0.84		$ 0.74
Shares used in calculating diluted earnings per share	264,456		261,206		256,774

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