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. 31, 2016	Sep. 24, 2016	Jun. 25, 2016	Mar. 26, 2016	Dec. 26, 2015	Sep. 26, 2015	Jun. 27, 2015	Mar. 28, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 26, 2015	Dec. 27, 2014	Aug. 31, 2016	Aug. 20, 2015
Revenue:
Product	$ 151,365	$ 156,188	$ 227,532	$ 216,082	$ 227,040	$ 202,365	$ 178,982	$ 160,843	$ 751,167	$ 769,230	$ 572,276
Services	29,678	29,264	31,290	28,736	32,994	30,107	28,364	26,019	118,968	117,484	95,803
Total revenue	181,043	185,452	258,822	244,818	260,034	232,472	207,346	186,862	870,135	886,714	668,079
Cost of revenue:
Cost of product	101,702	91,064	122,438	118,062	130,765	117,154	99,491	89,506	433,266	436,916	340,856
Cost of services	10,309	9,786	12,638	10,418	13,505	12,513	11,059	9,244	43,151	46,321	38,919
Total cost of revenue	112,011	100,850	135,076	128,480	144,270	129,667	110,550	98,750	476,417	483,237	379,775
Gross profit	69,032	84,602	123,746	116,338	115,764	102,805	96,796	88,112	393,718	403,477	288,304
Operating expenses	114,900	95,461	107,664	101,467	101,975	88,545	80,266	72,955	419,492	343,741	260,962
Income (loss) from operations	(45,868)	(10,859)	16,082	14,871	13,789	14,260	16,530	15,157	(25,774)	59,736	27,342
Other income (expense), net	5,589	(2,854)	(3,295)	(2,847)	(2,013)	(5,901)	2,384	(2,175)	(3,407)	(7,705)	(10,930)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(40,279)	(13,713)	12,787	12,024	11,776	8,359	18,914	12,982	(29,181)	52,031	16,412
Provision for (benefit from) for income taxes	(4,026)	(2,416)	1,475	216	(392)	(151)	1,008	616	(4,751)	1,081	2,753
Net income (loss)	(36,253)	(11,297)	11,312	11,808	12,168	8,510	17,906	12,366	(24,430)	50,950	13,659
Less: Loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	(125)	(171)	(207)	(463)	0	0	0	(503)	(463)	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Infinera Corporation	$ (36,253)	$ (11,172)	$ 11,483	$ 12,015	$ 12,631	$ 8,510	$ 17,906	$ 12,366	$ (23,927)	$ 51,413	$ 13,659
Net income (loss) per common share attributable to Infinera Corporation
Basic (in usd per share)	$ (0.25)	$ (0.08)	$ 0.08	$ 0.09	$ 0.09	$ 0.06	$ 0.14	$ 0.10	$ (0.17)	$ 0.39	$ 0.11
Diluted (in usd per share)	$ (0.25)	$ (0.08)	$ 0.08	$ 0.08	$ 0.08	$ 0.06	$ 0.13	$ 0.09	$ (0.17)	$ 0.36	$ 0.11
Impairment on acquired in-process research and development									$ 11,295	$ 0	$ 0
Realized gain on sale of cost-method investment									8,983	$ 0	$ 0
In-Process Technology
Net income (loss) per common share attributable to Infinera Corporation
Impairment on acquired in-process research and development	$ 11,300								$ 11,300
Transmode
Net income (loss) per common share attributable to Infinera Corporation
Percentage of acquiree common shares acquired	4.20%								4.20%			4.20%	95.80%