Financial Information by Quarter (Unaudited) - Unaudited Quarterly Consolidated Statements of Operations Data for Each of Eight Quarters (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 26, 2015	Sep. 26, 2015	Jun. 27, 2015	Mar. 28, 2015	Dec. 27, 2014	Sep. 27, 2014	Jun. 28, 2014	Mar. 29, 2014	Dec. 26, 2015	Dec. 27, 2014	Dec. 28, 2013	Aug. 20, 2015
Revenue:
Product	$ 227,040	$ 202,365	$ 178,982	$ 160,843	$ 158,492	$ 147,178	$ 142,364	$ 124,242	$ 769,230	$ 572,276	$ 465,424
Services	32,994	30,107	28,364	26,019	27,814	26,381	23,035	18,573	117,484	95,803	78,698
Total revenue	260,034	232,472	207,346	186,862	186,306	173,559	165,399	142,815	886,714	668,079	544,122
Cost of revenue:
Cost of product	130,765	117,154	99,491	89,506	89,809	86,703	85,906	78,438	436,916	340,856	295,715
Cost of services	13,505	12,513	11,059	9,244	12,154	11,554	9,240	5,971	46,321	38,919	29,768
Total cost of revenue	144,270	129,667	110,550	98,750	101,963	98,257	95,146	84,409	483,237	379,775	325,483
Gross profit	115,764	102,805	96,796	88,112	84,343	75,302	70,253	58,406	403,477	288,304	218,639
Operating expenses	101,975	88,545	80,266	72,955	71,477	67,822	62,201	59,462	343,741	260,962	242,825
Income (loss) from operations	13,789	14,260	16,530	15,157	12,866	7,480	8,052	(1,056)	59,736	27,342	(24,186)
Other income (expense), net	(2,013)	(5,901)	2,384	(2,175)	(2,773)	(2,432)	(2,655)	(3,070)	(7,705)	(10,930)	(6,279)
Income (loss) before income taxes	11,776	8,359	18,914	12,982	10,093	5,048	5,397	(4,126)	52,031	16,412	(30,465)
Provision for income taxes	(392)	(151)	1,008	616	1,683	205	617	248	1,081	2,753	1,654
Net income (loss)	12,168	8,510	17,906	12,366	8,410	4,843	4,780	(4,374)	50,950	13,659	(32,119)
Less: Loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(463)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	(463)	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Infinera Corporation	$ 12,631	$ 8,510	$ 17,906	$ 12,366	$ 8,410	$ 4,843	$ 4,780	$ (4,374)	$ 51,413	$ 13,659	$ (32,119)
Net income (loss) per common share attributable to Infinera Corporation
Basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.09	$ 0.06	$ 0.14	$ 0.10	$ 0.07	$ 0.04	$ 0.04	$ (0.04)	$ 0.39	$ 0.11	$ (0.27)
Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.08	$ 0.06	$ 0.13	$ 0.09	$ 0.06	$ 0.04	$ 0.04	$ (0.04)	$ 0.36	$ 0.11	$ (0.27)
Transmode [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of acquiree common shares acquired												95.80%