Stockholders' Equity, Comprehensive Income and Share-Based Compensation (Details Textual) (USD $)	0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 28, 2013	Mar. 05, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jul. 28, 2013	Jan. 29, 2012	Jul. 28, 2013 employee_stock_purchase_plans	Jul. 29, 2012
Equity [Line Items]
Amount authorized by Board of directors to repurchase shares		$ 3,000,000,000
Period of stock repurchase program		3 years
Remaining amount authorized to be repurchased	1,600,000,000
Cash dividend declared			$ 0.10	$ 0.10	$ 0.09
Dividend declared, amount								348,000,000	330,000,000
Number of employee stock purchase plans								2
Granted (in shares)						0		0
Assumed in Varian acquisition (in shares)							5,000,000
Additional performance-based awards to be earned upon certain levels of achievement (in shares)	2,000,000					2,000,000		2,000,000
Number of shares issued under the ESPP								3,000,000	3,000,000
Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Number of shares available for grant (in shares)	44,000,000					44,000,000		44,000,000
Purchase price in percent of the lower of the fair market value of Applied common stock								85.00%
Purchase period for ESPP (in months)								6-month
Weighted Average Estimated Fair Value Of Purchase Rights Under Espp								$ 2.90	$ 2.89
Restricted Stock [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Award conversion ratio to common stock								1
Performance Shares/Performance Units [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Award conversion ratio to common stock								1
Restricted Stock Units, Restricted Stock, Performance Shares and Performance Units [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to be vested								4 years
Employee Stock Option [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to expire								7 years
Employee Stock [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Total unrecognized compensation expense	$ 270,000,000					$ 270,000,000		$ 270,000,000
Weighted average period for unrecognized compensation expense to be recognized (in years)								2 years 6 months
Number of shares available for grant (in shares)	185,000,000					185,000,000		185,000,000
Minimum [Member] | Restricted Stock Units, Restricted Stock, Performance Shares and Performance Units [Member] | Certain Executive Officers [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to be vested								3 years
Minimum [Member] | Employee Stock Option [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to be vested								3 years
Maximum [Member] | Restricted Stock Units, Restricted Stock, Performance Shares and Performance Units [Member] | Certain Executive Officers [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to be vested								4 years
Maximum [Member] | Employee Stock Option [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Stock options scheduled to be vested								4 years
United States [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Number of employee stock purchase plans								1
International [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Number of employee stock purchase plans								1