Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jan. 01, 2010
Consolidated Statements Of Income [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 1,644,065	$ 1,293,937	$ 1,126,259
Cost of sales	814,484	648,436	576,391
Gross margin	829,581	645,501	549,868
Operating expense
Research and development	197,007	150,089	136,639
Sales and marketing	266,804	215,127	189,859
General and administrative	158,375	118,352	100,830
Restructuring charges	2,288	1,592	6,385
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	48,705	32,739	30,335
Total operating expense	673,179	517,899	464,048
Operating income	156,402	127,602	85,820
Non-operating income, net
Interest income	1,364	1,083	783
Interest expense	(8,641)	(1,752)	(1,812)
Foreign currency transaction gain (loss), net	1,053	(836)	463
Income from equity method investments, net	15,349	11,795	729
Other expense, net	1,927	3,195	1,638
Total non-operating income, net	11,052	13,485	1,801
Income before taxes	167,454	141,087	87,621
Income tax provision	18,545	37,474	23,658
Net income	148,909	103,613	63,963
Less: Net income (expense) attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1,846)	(47)	517
Net income attributable to Trimble Navigation Ltd.	$ 150,755	$ 103,660	$ 63,446
Basic earnings per share	$ 1.23	$ 0.86	$ 0.53
Shares used in calculating basic earnings per share	122,725	120,352	119,814
Diluted earnings per share	$ 1.20	$ 0.84	$ 0.52
Shares used in calculating diluted earnings per share	126,133	123,798	122,208