The Company and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
The Company and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	Mar. 30, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Fiscal Period	QuickLogic's fiscal year ends on the Sunday closest to December 31. QuickLogic's first fiscal quarter for 2014 and for 2013 ended on Sunday, March 30, 2014 and March 31, 2013, respectively.
Liquidity	Liquidity The Company has financed its operations and capital investments through sales of common stock, capital and operating leases, and bank lines of credit. As of March 30, 2014, the Company's principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents of $37.1 million and $5.0 million in available credit under its revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank which expires on June 27, 2014. The Company currently uses its cash to fund its capital expenditures and operating losses. Based on past performance and current expectations, the Company believes that its existing cash and cash equivalents, together with available financial resources from the revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank will be sufficient to fund its operations and capital expenditures and provide adequate working capital for the next twelve months. Over the longer term, based on current expectations regarding revenue growth and margin improvement, the Company believes that its existing cash and cash equivalents, together with financial resources from its revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank and its ability to sell additional shares to capital markets will be sufficient to satisfy its operations and capital expenditures. The Company's liquidity is affected by many factors including, among others: the level of revenue and gross profit as a result of the cyclicality of the semiconductor industry; the conversion of design opportunities into revenue; market acceptance of existing and new products including CSSPs based on its ArcticLink^® and PolarPro^® solution platforms; fluctuations in revenue as a result of product end-of-life; fluctuations in revenue as a result of the stage in the product life cycle of its customers' products; costs of securing access to and availability of adequate manufacturing capacity; levels of inventories; wafer and finished goods purchase commitments; customer credit terms; the amount and timing of research and development expenditures; the timing of new product introductions; production volumes; product quality; sales and marketing efforts; the value and liquidity of our investment portfolio; changes in operating assets and liabilities; the ability to obtain or renew debt financing and to remain in compliance with the terms of existing credit facilities; the ability to raise funds from the sale of equity in the Company; the issuance and exercise of stock options and participation in the Company's employee stock purchase plan; and other factors related to the uncertainties of the industry and global economics. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that events in the future will not require the Company to seek additional capital or, if so required, that such capital will be available on terms acceptable to the Company.
Principles of Consolidation	Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of QuickLogic and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Foreign Currency	Foreign Currency The functional currency of the Company's non-U.S. operations is the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, all monetary assets and liabilities of these foreign operations are translated into U.S. dollars at current period-end exchange rates and non-monetary assets and related elements of expense are translated using historical exchange rates. Income and expense elements are translated to U.S. dollars using the average exchange rates in effect during the period. Gains and losses from the foreign currency transactions of these subsidiaries are recorded as interest income and other expense, net in the condensed unaudited consolidated statements of operations.
Use of Estimates	Uses of Estimates The preparation of these consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates, particularly in relation to revenue recognition, the allowance for doubtful accounts, sales returns, valuation of investments, valuation of long-lived assets, valuation of inventories including identification of excess quantities, market value and obsolescence, measurement of stock-based compensation awards, accounting for income taxes and estimating accrued liabilities.
Concentration Risk	Concentration of Risk The Company's accounts receivable are denominated in U.S. dollars and are derived primarily from sales to customers located in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally does not require collateral. See Note 11 for information regarding concentrations associated with accounts receivable.
New Accounting Pronouncements	New Accounting Pronouncements In March 2013, the FASB issued guidance on a parent's accounting for the cumulative translation adjustment upon derecognition of a subsidiary or group of assets within a foreign entity. This new guidance requires that the parent release any related cumulative translation adjustment into net income only if the sale or transfer results in the complete or substantially complete liquidation of the foreign entity in which the subsidiary or group of assets had resided. The Company will adopt the new guidance in its interim period ending March 30, 2014. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In July 2013, the FASB issued guidance on the presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward exists. Under this guidance, an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, should be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward. This guidance is effective for the Company beginning after December 15, 2013. Other than the change in presentation within the Consolidated Balance Sheet, this new guidance will not have an impact on the consolidated financial statements.
Earnings Per Share	Basic loss per share is computed by dividing net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income (loss) per share was computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period plus potentially dilutive common shares outstanding during the period under the treasury stock method. In computing diluted net income (loss) per share, the weighted average stock price for the period is used in determining the number of shares assumed to be purchased from the exercise of stock options and warrants.
Valuation assumptions	Valuation Assumptions The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of employee stock options and rights to purchase shares under the Company's 2009 ESPP. Using the Black-Scholes pricing model requires the Company to develop highly subjective assumptions including the expected term of awards, expected volatility of its stock, expected risk-free interest rate and expected dividend rate over the term of the award. The Company's expected term of awards assumption is based primarily on its historical experience with similar grants. The Company's expected stock price volatility assumption for both stock options and ESPP shares is based on the historical volatility of the Company's stock, using the daily average of the opening and closing prices and measured using historical data appropriate for the expected term. The risk-free interest rate assumption approximates the risk-free interest rate of a Treasury Constant Maturity bond with a maturity approximately equal to the expected term of the stock option or ESPP shares. This fair value is expensed over the requisite service period of the award. The fair value of RSUs and PRSUs is based on the closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant. Equity compensation awards which vest with service are expensed using the straight-line attribution method over the requisite service period. In addition to the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes pricing model, the amended authoritative guidance requires that the Company recognize expense for awards ultimately expected to vest; therefore the Company is required to develop an estimate of the number of awards expected to be forfeited prior to vesting, or forfeiture rate. The forfeiture rate is estimated based on historical pre-vest cancellation experience and is applied to all share-based awards.