SEGMENT INFORMATION, REVENUE AND GROSS PROFIT (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment business_unit	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments \| segment			2
Number of business units \| business_unit			4
Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue:	$ 86,530	$ 87,086	$ 264,214	$ 255,489
Gross Profit:	55,513	51,520	167,429	146,920
Operating Segments [Member] \| Affymetrix Core [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue:	61,689	64,645	191,173	186,177
Gross Profit:	39,896	37,991	123,030	110,225
Operating Segments [Member] \| eBioscience [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue:	24,841	22,441	73,041	69,312
Gross Profit:	$ 15,617	$ 13,529	$ 44,399	$ 36,695

Number of Business Units

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- Definition

Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 225

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1,2)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26872669&loc=d3e20235-122688

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 225

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26872669&loc=d3e20235-122688

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+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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