Disaggregated Revenue by Primary Geographical Market, Major Product Line and Timing of Revenue Recognition (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
		Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	$ 704,355	$ 494,099
Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total		484,489	340,853
System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	116,076	58,220
Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total		60,305	66,136
Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	43,485	29,041
Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]		(151)
Point in Time
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	626,933	419,555
Point in Time | System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	100,712	45,237
Point in Time | Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	41,056	27,454
Point in Time | Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]		(151)
Over Time
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	77,422	74,544
Over Time | System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	15,364	12,983
Over Time | Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	2,429	1,587
Over Time | Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]
Americas
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	76,939	73,171
Americas | System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	28,291	26,809
Americas | Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	4,688	2,241
Americas | Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]		(151)
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	58,242	55,102
Europe, Middle East and Africa | System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	7,768	7,126
Europe, Middle East and Africa | Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	992	781
Europe, Middle East and Africa | Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]
Asia Pacific
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	569,174	365,826
Asia Pacific | System Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	80,017	24,285
Asia Pacific | Wireless Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	37,805	26,019
Asia Pacific | Corporate and Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]
SOC | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	400,139	292,806
SOC | Point in Time | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	348,044	238,755
SOC | Over Time | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	52,095	54,051
SOC | Americas | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	17,386	16,167
SOC | Europe, Middle East and Africa | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	20,021	16,313
SOC | Asia Pacific | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	362,732	260,326
Memory | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	84,350	48,047
Memory | Point in Time | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	79,398	43,775
Memory | Over Time | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	4,952	4,272
Memory | Americas | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	6,896	8,763
Memory | Europe, Middle East and Africa | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	1,344	433
Memory | Asia Pacific | Semiconductor Test
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	76,110	38,851
Universal Robots (UR) | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	49,697	57,030
Universal Robots (UR) | Point in Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	47,502	55,379
Universal Robots (UR) | Over Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	2,195	1,651
Universal Robots (UR) | Americas | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	14,743	15,803
Universal Robots (UR) | Europe, Middle East and Africa | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	24,037	26,609
Universal Robots (UR) | Asia Pacific | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	10,917	14,618
MiR | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	9,138	9,106
MiR | Point in Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	9,097	9,106
MiR | Over Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	41
MiR | Americas | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	3,465	3,539
MiR | Europe, Middle East and Africa | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	4,080	3,840
MiR | Asia Pacific | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	1,593	$ 1,727
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	1,470
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Point in Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	1,124
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Over Time | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	346
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Americas | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]	1,470
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Europe, Middle East and Africa | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]
Autoguide LLC [Member] | Asia Pacific | Industrial Automation
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total	[1]

[1] Includes $1.8 million and $1.7 million in 2020 and 2019, for leases of Teradyne’s systems recognized outside ASC 606 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.