Debt (Components Of Debt) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2012	Jan. 31, 2011
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Capital leases	$ 6,512,000	$ 7,325,000
Revolving credit loan	1,500,000,000
Long-term debt	105,743,000	494,511,000
Less-current maturities (included as "Revolving credit loans and current portion of long-term debt, net")	(48,490,000)	(434,435,000)
Total long-term debt	57,253,000	60,076,000
Convertible Senior Debentures [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior debentures, face value	0	350,000,000
Less-unamortized debt discount	0	(8,993,000)
Convertible senior debentures, net	0	341,007,000
Convertible senior debentures, semi-annual interest rate	2.75%
Debt, maturity date	Dec. 01, 2026
Loan Payable To Brightstar Corporation, Interest At LIBOR Plus 4.0% Payable Annually, Due September 2015 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loan payable to Brightstar Corp., interest at LIBOR plus 4.0% payable annually, due September 2015	14,940,000	15,203,000
Annual interest rate on loans payable in addition to LIBOR	4.00%
Interest-Free Revolving Credit Loan Payable To Brightstar Corporation [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Revolving credit loan	36,306,000	38,045,000
Other Committed And Uncommitted Revolving Credit Facilities, Expiring On Various Dates Through Fiscal 2013 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Revolving credit loan	$ 47,985,000	$ 92,931,000
Revolving credit loans, interest rate	6.27%	3.27%
Debt instrument expiration year	2013