The Company and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	9 Months Ended
The Company and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	Oct. 02, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Fiscal period	QuickLogic's fiscal year ends on the Sunday closest to December 31 and the fiscal quarters each end on the Sunday closest to the end of each calendar quarter. QuickLogic's third fiscal quarters for 2016 and for 2015 ended on Sunday, October 2, 2016 and September 27, 2015, 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 October 2, 2016, the Company's principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents of $17.8 million and $1.0 million in available credit under its revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank, which expires on September 25, 2017. On September 25, 2015, the Company entered into a Second Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank to extend the line of credit for two years through September 25, 2017. This amendment modifies some of the financial covenants. This line of credit provides for committed loan advances of up to $6.0 million, subject to increases at the Company's election of up to $12.0 million. On February 10, 2016, the Company entered into a Third Amendment to Third and Restated Loan and Security Agreement to further modify the covenants. See Note 5 for a description of the modified covenants. The Company is in compliance with all loan covenants as of the end of the current reporting period. On March 21, 2016, the Company issued 10.0 million shares of common stock at a price of $1.00 per share, $0.001 par value. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $8.8 million, after deducting underwriting commissions and other offering related expenses. The Company uses the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes. The Company may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire and/or license technologies and acquire and/or invest in businesses when the opportunity arises. The shares were offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement previously filed with the SEC, which was declared effective by the SEC on August 30, 2013, and as supplemented by a prospectus supplement dated March 17, 2016 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Company currently uses its cash to fund its capital expenditures and operating losses. Based on past operating performance and current annual operating plans, 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 EOS^TM, 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. Over the longer term, the Company anticipates that the generation of sales from its new product offerings, existing cash and cash equivalents, together with financial resources from its revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank and its ability to raise additional capital in the public capital markets will be sufficient to satisfy its operations and capital expenditures requirements. However, the Company cannot provide any assurance that it will be able to raise additional capital, if required, or that such capital will be available on terms acceptable to the Company. The inability of the Company to generate sufficient sales from its new product offerings and/or raise additional capital if needed could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations and financial condition, including its ability to maintain compliance with its lender’s financial covenants.
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.
Uses of Estimates	Uses 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 materially from those estimates, particularly in relation to revenue recognition, the allowance for doubtful accounts, sales returns, valuation of investments, valuation of long-lived assets including mask sets, 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	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 August 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. This update clarifies how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and for interim periods therein with early adoption permitted and must be applied retrospectively to all periods presented. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In May 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-12, Revenue from contracts with customers (Topic 606): Narrow Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients. This update among other things: (1) clarify the object of the collectability criterion for applying paragraph 606-10-25-7; (2) permit an entity to exclude amounts collected from customers for all sales (and other similar) taxes from transaction price; (3) specify that the measurement date for noncash consideration is contract inception; (4) provide a practical expedient that permits an entity to reflect the aggregate effect of all modifications that occur before the beginning of the earliest period presented when identifying the satisfied and unsatisfied performance obligations, determining the transaction price, and allocating the transaction price to the satisfied and unsatisfied performance obligations; (5) clarify that a completed contract for purposes of transition is a contract for which all (or substantially all) of the revenue was recognized under legacy GAAP before the date of initial application, and (6) clarify that an entity that retrospectively applies the guidance in Topic 606 to each prior period reporting is not required to disclose the effect of the accounting change for the period of adoption. This amendment is effective for public entities for annual reports beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods therein. For nonpublic entities one year later. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. This update was issued as part of the FASB’s simplification initiative and affects all entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. The amendments in this update cover such areas as the recognition of excess tax benefits and deficiencies, the classification of those excess tax benefits on the statement of cash flows, an accounting policy election for forfeitures, the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes and still qualify for equity classification and the classification of those taxes paid on the statement of cash flows. This update is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, which will require us to adopt these provisions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. This guidance can be applied either prospectively, retrospectively or using a modified retrospective transition method, depending on the area covered in this update. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-08, Revenue from contracts with customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net. The amendments are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations by amending certain existing illustrative examples and adding additional illustrative examples to assist in the application of the guidance. The effective date and transition of these amendments is the same as the effective date and transition of ASU 2014-09. Public entities should apply the amendments in ASU 2014-09 for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods therein (i.e., January 1, 2018, for a calendar year entity). Private entities must apply the amendments one year later. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 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. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of the new standard on our consolidated 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. The amendment applies to inventory valued at first-in, first-out 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. Other new accounting pronouncements are disclosed on the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2016 filed with the SEC on March 18, 2016.
Net Loss 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 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 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.
Value 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.