Recently Adopted Accounting Standard - Summary of Cumulative Effect of Adoption on Consolidated Statement of Operations (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Item Effected [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 74,196	$ 57,709	$ 139,465	$ 112,171
Cost of revenues	38,313	31,779	73,371	62,589
Gross margin	35,883	25,930	66,094	49,582
Income before income taxes	8,272	(178)	12,388	(1,231)
Provision for income taxes	363	267	497	168
Consolidated net income	7,909	(445)	11,891	(1,399)
Net income attributable to Vicor Corporation	7,860	$ (459)	11,803	$ (1,433)
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member] | Adjustments [Member]
Item Effected [Line Items]
Net revenues	(597)		(1,401)
Cost of revenues	(372)		(956)
Gross margin	(225)		(445)
Income before income taxes	(225)		(445)
Provision for income taxes	(11)		(18)
Consolidated net income	(214)		(427)
Net income attributable to Vicor Corporation	(214)		(427)
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member] | Balances without adoption of Topic 606 [Member]
Item Effected [Line Items]
Net revenues	73,599		138,064
Cost of revenues	37,941		72,415
Gross margin	35,658		65,649
Income before income taxes	8,047		11,943
Provision for income taxes	352		479
Consolidated net income	7,695		11,464
Net income attributable to Vicor Corporation	$ 7,646		$ 11,376