Segment Information Segment information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	$ 3,165,000,000	$ 3,084,000,000	$ 9,535,000,000	$ 9,332,000,000
Services revenues	2,374,000,000	2,194,000,000	7,005,000,000	6,352,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	5,539,000,000	5,278,000,000	16,540,000,000	15,684,000,000
Gross profit	3,442,000,000	3,288,000,000	10,249,000,000	9,748,000,000
Gross profit percentage	62.10%	62.30%	62.00%	62.20%
Research and development	686,000,000	653,000,000	2,056,000,000	1,896,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,809,000,000	1,709,000,000	5,308,000,000	5,076,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	40,000,000	27,000,000	195,000,000	81,000,000
Total costs and expenses	2,535,000,000	2,389,000,000	7,559,000,000	7,053,000,000
Operating income	907,000,000	899,000,000	2,690,000,000	2,695,000,000
Other income (expense), net	(87,000,000)	(55,000,000)	(213,000,000)	(131,000,000)
Income before provision for income taxes	820,000,000	844,000,000	2,477,000,000	2,564,000,000
Income tax provision	181,000,000	185,000,000	474,000,000	590,000,000
Net income	639,000,000	659,000,000	2,003,000,000	1,974,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(53,000,000)	(33,000,000)	(136,000,000)	(111,000,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	586,000,000	626,000,000	1,867,000,000	1,863,000,000
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	2,415,000,000	2,420,000,000	7,444,000,000	7,358,000,000
Services revenues	1,358,000,000	1,306,000,000	4,019,000,000	3,819,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	3,773,000,000	3,726,000,000	11,463,000,000	11,177,000,000
Gross profit	2,101,000,000	2,119,000,000	6,408,000,000	6,330,000,000
Gross profit percentage	55.70%	56.90%	55.90%	56.60%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	32,000,000	50,000,000	115,000,000	131,000,000
Services revenues	117,000,000	108,000,000	343,000,000	325,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	149,000,000	158,000,000	458,000,000	456,000,000
Gross profit	94,000,000	108,000,000	290,000,000	299,000,000
Gross profit percentage	63.30%	68.10%	63.30%	65.60%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	120,000,000	106,000,000	317,000,000	306,000,000
Services revenues	132,000,000	121,000,000	395,000,000	348,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	252,000,000	227,000,000	712,000,000	654,000,000
Gross profit	170,000,000	146,000,000	471,000,000	458,000,000
Gross profit percentage	67.60%	64.20%	66.10%	70.00%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	2,567,000,000	2,576,000,000	7,876,000,000	7,795,000,000
Services revenues	1,607,000,000	1,535,000,000	4,757,000,000	4,492,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	4,174,000,000	4,111,000,000	12,633,000,000	12,287,000,000
Gross profit	2,365,000,000	2,373,000,000	7,169,000,000	7,087,000,000
Gross profit percentage	56.60%	57.70%	56.70%	57.70%
Research and development	354,000,000	356,000,000	1,094,000,000	1,046,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,114,000,000	1,079,000,000	3,305,000,000	3,272,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	1,468,000,000	1,435,000,000	4,399,000,000	4,318,000,000
Operating income	897,000,000	938,000,000	2,770,000,000	2,769,000,000
EMC Information Infrastructure Plus Pivotal [Member]
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	2,602,000,000	2,599,000,000	7,958,000,000	7,862,000,000
Services revenues	1,652,000,000	1,578,000,000	4,893,000,000	4,598,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	4,254,000,000	4,177,000,000	12,851,000,000	12,460,000,000
Gross profit	2,399,000,000	2,410,000,000	7,255,000,000	7,176,000,000
Gross profit percentage	56.40%	57.70%	56.50%	57.60%
Research and development	386,000,000	387,000,000	1,181,000,000	1,138,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,157,000,000	1,117,000,000	3,424,000,000	3,384,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	1,543,000,000	1,504,000,000	4,605,000,000	4,522,000,000
Operating income	856,000,000	906,000,000	2,650,000,000	2,654,000,000
Other income (expense), net	(106,000,000)	(63,000,000)	(256,000,000)	(140,000,000)
Income tax provision	193,000,000	202,000,000	595,000,000	676,000,000
Net income	557,000,000	641,000,000	1,799,000,000	1,838,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	557,000,000	641,000,000	1,799,000,000	1,838,000,000
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	563,000,000	485,000,000	1,577,000,000	1,470,000,000
Services revenues	722,000,000	616,000,000	2,112,000,000	1,754,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	1,285,000,000	1,101,000,000	3,689,000,000	3,224,000,000
Gross profit	1,141,000,000	975,000,000	3,292,000,000	2,857,000,000
Gross profit percentage	88.80%	88.60%	89.20%	88.60%
Research and development	208,000,000	178,000,000	606,000,000	517,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	493,000,000	421,000,000	1,432,000,000	1,230,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	701,000,000	599,000,000	2,038,000,000	1,747,000,000
Operating income	440,000,000	376,000,000	1,254,000,000	1,110,000,000
Other income (expense), net	7,000,000	9,000,000	14,000,000	20,000,000
Income tax provision	70,000,000	87,000,000	247,000,000	204,000,000
Net income	377,000,000	298,000,000	1,021,000,000	926,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	74,000,000	58,000,000	202,000,000	180,000,000
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	303,000,000	240,000,000	819,000,000	746,000,000
Corp Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	0	0	0	0
Services revenues	0	0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues		0	0
Gross profit	(98,000,000)	(97,000,000)	(298,000,000)	(285,000,000)
Gross profit percentage	0.00%
Research and development	92,000,000	88,000,000	269,000,000	241,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	159,000,000	171,000,000	452,000,000	462,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	40,000,000	27,000,000	195,000,000	81,000,000
Total costs and expenses	291,000,000	286,000,000	916,000,000	784,000,000
Operating income	(389,000,000)	(383,000,000)	(1,214,000,000)	(1,069,000,000)
Other income (expense), net	12,000,000	(1,000,000)	29,000,000	(11,000,000)
Income tax provision	(82,000,000)	(104,000,000)	(368,000,000)	(290,000,000)
Net income	(295,000,000)	(280,000,000)	(817,000,000)	(790,000,000)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	21,000,000	(25,000,000)	(66,000,000)	(69,000,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	(274,000,000)	(255,000,000)	(751,000,000)	(721,000,000)
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales revenue	35,000,000	23,000,000	82,000,000	67,000,000
Services revenues	45,000,000	43,000,000	136,000,000	106,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	80,000,000	66,000,000	218,000,000	173,000,000
Gross profit	34,000,000	37,000,000	86,000,000	89,000,000
Gross profit percentage	42.60%	55.60%	39.50%	51.80%
Research and development	32,000,000	31,000,000	87,000,000	92,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	43,000,000	38,000,000	119,000,000	112,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	75,000,000	69,000,000	206,000,000	204,000,000
Operating income	$ (41,000,000)	$ (32,000,000)	$ (120,000,000)	$ (115,000,000)