SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	12 Months Ended
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	Jan. 03, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Fiscal Period	QuickLogic's fiscal year ends on the Sunday closest to December 31.
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 January 3, 2016, the Company's principal sources of liquidity consisted of its cash and cash equivalents of $19.1 million and $4.0 million in available credit under its revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank, which expires on September 25, 2017. Additionally, we have an accumulated deficit of approximately $221 million and experienced net losses in the past years and expect such losses to continue through at least the year ending January 1, 2017 as we continue to develop new products, applications and technologies. 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 and equity funding raised during March 2016 will be sufficient to fund its operations and capital expenditures and provide adequate working capital for the next twelve months. 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 solutions 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 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 its 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.
Principles of Consolidation	Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, in the United States of America and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and include the accounts of QuickLogic and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Foreign Currency Transactions	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 statements of operations. Foreign Currency Transactions All of the Company's sales and cost of manufacturing are transacted in U.S. dollars. The Company conducts a portion of its research and development activities in Canada and India and has sales and marketing activities in various countries outside of the United States. Canada operations were closed down at the end of fiscal year 2015 as a part of restructuring plan initiated in the second quarter. Most of these international expenses are incurred in local currency. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses, which are not significant, are included in interest income and other expense, net, as they occur. Operating expenses denominated in foreign currencies were approximately 17%, 18% and 19% of total operating expenses in 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. The Company incurred a majority of these foreign currency expenses in India, the United Kingdom and Korea in 2015, 2014 and 2013. The Company has not used derivative financial instruments to hedge its exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency and, therefore, is susceptible to fluctuations in foreign exchange gains or losses in its results of operations in future reporting periods.
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates The preparation of these consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. 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 of Risk, Credit and Suppliers	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 13 for information regarding concentrations associated with accounts receivable. Concentration of Credit and Suppliers Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk, consist principally of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. Cash and cash equivalents are maintained with high quality institutions. The Company's accounts receivable are denominated in U.S. dollars and are derived primarily from sales to customers located in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally does not require collateral. See Note 13 for information regarding concentrations associated with accounts receivable. The Company depends on a limited number of contract manufacturers, subcontractors, and suppliers for wafer fabrication, assembly, programming and test of its devices, and for the supply of programming equipment, and these services are typically provided by one supplier for each of the Company's devices. The Company generally purchases these single or limited source services through standard purchase orders. Because the Company relies on independent subcontractors to perform these services, it cannot directly control its product delivery schedules, costs or quality levels. The Company's future success also depends on the financial viability of its independent subcontractors.
Cash Equivalents	Cash Equivalents All highly liquid investments purchased with a remaining maturity of ninety days or less are considered cash equivalents. The Company's investment portfolio included in cash equivalents is generally comprised of investments that meet high credit quality standards. The Company's investment portfolio consists of money market funds, which are precluded from investing in auction rate securities. These funds invest in U.S. government obligations and repurchase agreements secured by U.S. Treasury obligations, U.S. government agency obligations, high quality commercial papers and other short term debt securities of U.S. and foreign corporations, debt securities issued or guaranteed by qualified U.S. and foreign banks, asset backed securities, repurchase agreements and reverse purchase agreements and taxable municipal obligations. The fair value of this portfolio is based on market prices for securities with active secondary and resale markets.
Fair Value	Fair Value The guidance for the fair value option for financial assets and financial liabilities provides companies the irrevocable option to measure many financial assets and liabilities at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in earnings or equity. The Company has not elected to measure any financial assets or liabilities at fair value that were not previously required to be measured at fair value.
Inventories	Inventories Inventories are stated at the lower of standard cost or net realizable value. Standard cost approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. The Company routinely evaluates quantities and values of its inventories in light of current market conditions and market trends and records reserves for quantities in excess of demand and product obsolescence. The evaluation, which inherently involves judgments as to assumptions about expected future demand and the impact of market conditions on these assumptions, takes into consideration historic usage, expected demand, anticipated sales price, the stage in the product life cycle of its customers' products, new product development schedules, the effect new products might have on the sale of existing products, product obsolescence, customer design activity, customer concentrations, product merchantability and other factors. Market conditions are subject to change. Actual consumption of inventories could differ from forecast demand, and this difference could have a material impact on the Company's gross margin and inventory balances based on additional provisions for excess or obsolete inventories or a benefit from inventories previously written down. The Company also regularly reviews the cost of inventories against estimated market value and records a lower of cost or market reserve for inventories that have a cost in excess of estimated market value, which could have a material impact on the Company's gross margin and inventory balances based on additional write-downs to net realizable value or a benefit from inventories previously written down. The Company's semiconductor products have historically had an unusually long product life cycle and obsolescence has not been a significant factor in the valuation of inventories. However, as the Company pursues opportunities in the mobile market and continues to develop new solutions and products, the Company believes its product life cycle will be shorter and increase the potential for obsolescence. A significant decrease in demand could result in an increase in the amount of excess inventory on hand. Although the Company makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of its forecasts of future product demand, any significant unanticipated changes in demand or frequent new product developments could have a significant impact on the value of its inventory and its results of operations.
Property and Equipment and Long-Lived Assets	Property and Equipment Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally one to seven years. Amortization of leasehold improvements and capital leases is computed on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the lease term or the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally one to seven years. Long-Lived Assets The Company reviews the recoverability of its long-lived assets, such as property and equipment, and investments, annually and when events or changes in circumstances occur that indicate that the carrying value of the asset or asset group may not be recoverable. The assessment of possible impairment is based on the Company's ability to recover the carrying value of the asset or asset group from the expected future pre-tax cash flows, undiscounted and without interest charges, of the related operations. If these cash flows are less than the carrying value of the asset or asset group, an impairment loss is recognized for the difference between the estimated fair value and the carrying value, and the carrying value of the related assets is reduced by this difference. The measurement of impairment requires management to estimate future cash flows and the fair value of long-lived assets.
Licensed Intellectual Property	Licensed Intellectual Property The Company licenses intellectual property that is incorporated into its products. Costs incurred under license agreements prior to the establishment of technological feasibility are included in research and development expense as incurred. Costs incurred for intellectual property once technological feasibility has been established and that can be used in multiple products are capitalized as a long-term asset. Once a product incorporating licensed intellectual property has production sales, the amount is amortized over the estimated useful life of the asset, generally up to five years.
Revenue Recognition	Revenue Recognition The Company supplies standard products which must be programmed before they can be used in an application. The Company's products may be programmed by us, distributors, end-customers or third parties. The Company recognizes revenue as products are shipped if evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, collection of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured and product returns are reasonably estimable. Revenue is recognized upon shipment of programmed and unprogrammed parts to both OEM customers and distributors, provided that legal title and risk of ownership have transferred. Parts held by distributors may be returned for quality reasons only under its standard warranty policy. The Company records allowance for sales returns.
Warranty Costs	Warranty Costs The Company warrants finished goods against defects in material and workmanship under normal use for twelve months from the date of shipment. The Company does not have significant product warranty related costs or liabilities.
Advertising	Advertising Costs related to advertising and promotion expenditures are charged to “Selling, general and administrative” expense in the consolidated statements of operations as incurred.
Stock-Based Compensation and Valuation Assumptions	Stock-Based Compensation The Company accounts for stock-based compensation under the provisions of the amended authoritative guidance, and related interpretations which require the measurement and recognition of expense related to the fair value of stock-based compensation awards. The fair value of stock-based compensation awards is measured at the grant date and re-measured upon modification, as appropriate. 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 1999 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, consistent with the provisions of the amended authoritative guidance. The fair value of restricted stock awards, or RSAs, and restricted stock units, or RSUs, 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 on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. Service based Performance awards are expensed on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. If performance conditions are other than service, an accelerated method of amortization is used, which treats each vesting tranche as a separate award over the expected life of the unit. The Company regularly reviews the assumptions used to compute the fair value of its stock-based awards and it will revise its assumptions as appropriate. In the event that assumptions used to compute the fair value of its stock-based awards are later determined to be inaccurate or if the Company changes its assumptions significantly in future periods, stock-based compensation expense and the results of operations could be materially impacted. See Note 11 for further details. 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.
Accounting for Income Taxes	Accounting for Income Taxes As part of the process of preparing the Company's financial statements, it's required to estimate its income taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which the Company operates. This process involves estimating the Company's actual current tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences resulting from different tax and accounting treatment of items, such as deferred revenue, allowance for doubtful accounts, the impact of equity awards, depreciation and amortization and employee related accruals. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included on the Company's balance sheets. The Company must then assess the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and to the extent the Company believes that recovery is not likely, it must establish a valuation allowance. To the extent the Company establishes a valuation allowance or increase this allowance in a period, it must include an expense within the tax provision in the statements of operations. Significant management judgment is required in determining the Company's provision for income taxes, the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against the Company's net deferred tax assets. The Company's deferred tax assets, consisting primarily of net operating loss carryforwards, amounted to $69.4 million tax effected as of the end of 2015. The Company has also recorded a valuation allowance of $69.3 million, tax effected as of the end of 2015 due to uncertainties related to the Company's ability to utilize its U.S. deferred tax assets before they expire. In making such determination, the Company considers all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, ability to project future taxable income, and results of recent operations. If the Company determines that it would be able to realize its deferred tax assets in the future in excess of its net recorded amount, the Company would make an adjustment to the deferred tax assets valuation allowance, which would reduce its provision for income taxes. The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes using a two-step approach for recognizing and measuring uncertain tax positions. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. The Company classifies the liability for unrecognized tax benefits as current to the extent that it anticipates payment (or receipt) of cash within one year. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are recognized in the provision for income taxes. Accrued interest and penalties are included within the related tax liability line in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
Comprehensive Income (Loss)	Comprehensive Income (Loss) Comprehensive income (loss) includes all temporary changes in equity (net assets) during a period from non-owner sources.
New Accounting Pronouncements	New Accounting Pronouncements In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard establishes a right-of-use (ROU) model that requires a lessee to record a ROU asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In November 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. This update eliminates the current requirement for organizations to present deferred tax assets and liabilities as current and noncurrent in a classified balance sheet. Instead, organizations will be required to classify all deferred tax assets and liabilities as noncurrent. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016 for public business entities, and for all other entities annual periods beginning December 15, 2017 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The amendments may be applied prospectively to all deferred assets and liabilities, or retrospectively for all periods presented. Early adoption of the amendments is permitted. The Company early adopted ASU 2015-17 retrospectively in the current reporting period. Adoption had no impact on our consolidated balance sheets. No reclassification was required in the prior year financial statements. In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the measurement of Inventory,which amends the accounting guidance on the valuation of inventory. The guidance requires an entity to measure in scope inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. Subsequent measurement is unchanged for inventory measured using LIFO or the retail inventory method. The amendments do not apply to inventory that is measured using last-in, first-out (LIFO) or the retail inventory method. The amendments apply to all other inventory, which includes inventory that is measured using first-in, first-out (FIFO) or average cost. This guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2015-11 on its consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which amends the accounting guidance on the presentation of debt issuance costs. The guidance requires an entity to present debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt, consistent with debt discounts. The guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 31, 2015 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and must be applied retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2015-03 on its consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures. In February 2015, the FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (ASU 2015-02), which is intended to improve the targeted areas of consolidation guidance for legal entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability corporations and securitization structures. In addition to reducing the number of consolidation models from four to two, the new standard simplifies the FASB accounting standards codification and improves the current U.S. GAAP by: placing more emphasis on risk of loss when determining a controlling financial interest; reducing the frequency of the application of related party guidance when determining a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity, or VIE and changing consolidation conclusions for public and private companies in several industries that typically make use of limited partnerships or VIEs. This ASU 2015-02 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In January 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-01, Income Statement - Extraordinary and Unusual Items (Subtopic 225-20): Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items (ASU 2015-01). This ASU 2015-01 eliminates from U.S. GAAP the concept of extraordinary items. Subtopic 225-20, Income Statement - Extraordinary and Unusual Items, requires that an entity separately classify, present and disclose extraordinary events and transactions. Presently, an event or transaction is presumed to be an ordinary and usual activity of a reporting entity unless evidence clearly supports its classification as an extraordinary item. If an event or transaction meets the criteria for extraordinary classification, an entity is required to segregate the extraordinary item from the results of ordinary operations and show such item separately in the income statement, net of tax, after income from continuing operations. The entity is also required to disclose applicable income taxes and either present or disclose earnings-per-share data applicable to the extraordinary item. This ASU 2015-01 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five-step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The amendments in this ASU defer the effective date of ASU 2014-09. Public companies should apply the guidance in ASU 2014-09 to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted only as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. We continue to evaluate the expected impact of this new guidance and available adoption methods. In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern (Sub Topic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern (ASU 2014-15). This ASU 2014-15 provides guidance to an entity’s management with principles and definitions that are intended to reduce diversity in the timing and content of disclosures that are currently commonly provided by entities in the financial statement footnotes. This ASU 2014-15 is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Early application is permitted for annual or interim reporting periods for which the financial statements have not previously been issued.
Net Loss Per Share	Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net income 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.