Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2013		Oct. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2012		Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2013	Jan. 31, 2012		Jan. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2012 Brightstar Europe Limited	Jan. 31, 2013 Brightstar Europe Limited	Nov. 30, 2013 SDG	Jan. 31, 2013 SDG	Jan. 31, 2013 SDG	Apr. 30, 2013 SDG	Nov. 02, 2012 SDG	Jan. 31, 2013 SDG Customer and Vendor Relationship	Nov. 02, 2012 SDG Customer and Vendor Relationship	Jan. 31, 2013 SDG Preferred Supplier Agreement	Nov. 02, 2012 SDG Preferred Supplier Agreement	Jan. 31, 2012 Europe business	Jan. 31, 2013 Additional Paid-in Capital	Sep. 30, 2012 Additional Paid-in Capital Brightstar Europe Limited	Jan. 31, 2013 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes	Jan. 31, 2012 Senior Notes	Nov. 30, 2013 Minimum SDG	Nov. 30, 2013 Maximum SDG
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Identifiable intangible assets																						$ 134,300,000		$ 103,100,000		$ 31,200,000
Cash paid to acquire entity																165,900,000
Decrease to additional paid-in capital											117,220,000																	85,916,000	85,900,000
Purchase price premium																85,000,000
Acquisition related costs																	900,000			14,600,000
Acquisition purchase price																					358,000,000
Debt, face value																														350,000,000	350,000,000	0
Annual supply commitment, period of commitment																		6 years	5 years
Annual supply commitment, incremental sales																				500,000,000													450,000,000	475,000,000
Acquired finite lived intangible assets, useful life (in years)																							10 years		5 years
Identified intangible assets and goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes.											35,000,000
Net sales	$ 7,442,372,000	[1],[2]	$ 6,037,475,000	$ 5,968,419,000	$ 5,910,063,000	$ 6,874,391,000	[3]	$ 6,404,585,000	$ 6,214,304,000	$ 6,154,033,000	$ 25,358,329,000	$ 25,647,313,000	[4]	$ 23,619,938,000	[4]				$ 617,400,000
Number of businesses acquired																											2

[1] During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company recorded a $41.0 million increase in an accrual for various value added tax matters in one of the Company’s subsidiaries in Spain, which decreased earnings per diluted share by $0.89 for the quarter ended January 31, 2013 (see Note 14 - Commitments and Contingencies for further discussion).

[2] During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company recorded an income tax benefit of $25.1 million for the reversal of deferred tax valuation allowances related to a specific jurisdiction in Europe which had been recorded in prior fiscal years, which increased earnings per diluted share by $0.66 for the quarter ended January 31, 2013 (see further discussion in Note 9 - Income Taxes).

[3] During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company recorded a $28.3 million loss on disposal of subsidiaries related to the closure of the commercial operations in Brazil and Colombia, which decreased earnings per diluted share by $0.46 for the quarter ended January 31, 2012 (see also Note 7 - Loss on Disposal of Subsidiaries).

[4] See Note 2 - Restatement of Consolidated Financial Statements.