Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended													12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2014		Oct. 31, 2013		Jul. 31, 2013		Apr. 30, 2013		Jan. 31, 2013		Oct. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2014	Jan. 31, 2013	Jan. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Brightstar Europe Limited	Nov. 30, 2012 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, 2014 TDMobility [Member]	Nov. 02, 2013 TDMobility [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 TDMobility [Member] Customer and Vendor Relationship	Jan. 31, 2014 TDMobility [Member] Other Intangible Assets [Member]	Jan. 31, 2013 Additional Paid-in Capital	Sep. 30, 2012 Additional Paid-in Capital Brightstar Europe Limited	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior Notes	Jan. 31, 2013 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes	Jan. 31, 2014 Minimum SDG	Jan. 31, 2014 Maximum SDG
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Identifiable intangible assets																			$ 134,300,000		$ 103,100,000		$ 31,200,000		$ 4,200,000
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
Acquisition purchase price																		358,000,000						2,100,000
Debt, face value																														350,000,000	350,000,000	350,000,000
Annual supply commitment, period of commitment																		6 years
Annual supply commitment, incremental sales																																	450,000,000	475,000,000
Acquired finite lived intangible assets, useful life (in years)																				10 years		6 years				5 years	10 years
Net sales	7,973,107,000	[1],[2],[3]	6,373,564,000	[1],[2]	6,327,476,000	[1]	6,147,757,000	[1]	7,442,372,000	[4],[5]	6,037,475,000	5,968,419,000	5,910,063,000	26,821,904,000	25,358,329,000	25,647,313,000
Tangible assets (includes property and equipment, deferred tax assets and other assets)																			6,200,000						4,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill Amount																									$ 1,900,000

[1] During the first, second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2014, the Company recorded $3.0 million, $11.0 million, $15.0 million and $24.8 million of restatement-related expenses, respectively (see further discussion in Note 1 - Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies).

[2] During the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2014, the Company recorded gains of $22.9 million and $12.6 million, respectively, associated with legal settlements (see further discussion in Note 1 - Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies).

[3] During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, the Company recorded a $45.3 million reversal of deferred tax valuation allowances primarily related to certain jurisdictions in Europe (see further discussion in Note 8 - Income Taxes).

[4] During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company recorded a $41.0 million increase in an accrual for various VAT matters in one of the Company’s subsidiaries in Spain (see further discussion in Note 13 - Commitments and Contingencies).

[5] 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 (see further discussion in Note 8 - Income Taxes).