Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Consolidated Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 2,043,958	$ 1,869,654	$ 1,576,381
Cost of revenues	1,081,494	989,009	942,323
Gross profit	962,464	880,645	634,058
Research and development	575,988	562,991	508,657
Selling, general and administrative	295,439	279,126	256,908
Restructuring of operations and other items, net	23,719	9,201	36,458
Income/(loss) from operations	67,318	29,327	(167,965)
Interest expense		(5,601)	(21,931)
Interest income and other, net	26,472	13,848	20,272
Income/(loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	93,790	37,574	(169,624)
Provision for/(benefit from) income taxes	3,778	3,170	(109,321)
Income/(loss) from continuing operations	90,012	34,404	(60,303)
Income from discontinued operations (including a gain on disposal of $260,066 in 2011), net of tax	241,479	5,568	12,584
Net income/(loss)	$ 331,491	$ 39,972	$ (47,719)
Basic income/(loss) per share:
Income/(loss) from continuing operations	$ 0.15	$ 0.05	$ (0.09)
Income from discontinued operations	$ 0.42	$ 0.01	$ 0.02
Net income/(loss)	$ 0.57	$ 0.06	$ (0.07)
Diluted income/(loss) per share:
Income/(loss) from continuing operations	$ 0.15	$ 0.05	$ (0.09)
Income from discontinued operations	$ 0.40	$ 0.01	$ 0.02
Net income/(loss)	$ 0.55	$ 0.06	$ (0.07)
Shares used in computing per share amounts:
Basic	585,704	638,998	651,238
Diluted	600,893	646,324	651,238