Segment Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Revenues:
Product revenues	$ 3,178,737	$ 3,043,984	$ 6,247,594	$ 5,975,243
Services revenues	2,132,656	1,801,354	4,158,177	3,477,713
Total consolidated revenues	5,311,393	4,845,338	10,405,771	9,452,956
Cost of sales	1,964,000	1,965,051	3,945,161	3,873,618
Gross profit	3,347,393	2,880,287	6,460,610	5,579,338
Gross profit percentage	63.00%	59.40%	62.10%	59.00%
Research and development	655,941	538,891	1,243,758	1,040,999
Selling, general and administrative	1,716,650	1,575,689	3,366,847	3,071,620
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	27,603	21,216	53,496	48,109
Total costs and expenses	2,400,194	2,135,796	4,664,101	4,160,728
Operating income	947,199	744,491	1,796,509	1,418,610
Other income (expense), net	(43,525)	19,867	(75,946)	(30,059)
Income before provision for income taxes	903,674	764,358	1,720,563	1,388,551
Income tax provision	214,256	172,731	405,166	294,370
Net income	689,418	591,627	1,315,397	1,094,181
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(39,904)	(45,133)	(79,041)	(70,539)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	649,514	546,494	1,236,356	1,023,642
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,512,914	2,432,702	4,967,649	4,816,713
Services revenues	1,304,311	1,135,792	2,538,483	2,191,258
Total consolidated revenues	3,817,225	3,568,494	7,506,132	7,007,971
Cost of sales	1,638,149	1,575,551	3,267,187	3,149,802
Gross profit	2,179,076	1,992,943	4,238,945	3,858,169
Gross profit percentage	57.10%	55.80%	56.50%	55.10%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product revenues	45,497	44,226	81,559	85,358
Services revenues	107,276	115,646	216,767	225,689
Total consolidated revenues	152,773	159,872	298,326	311,047
Cost of sales	50,436	59,220	106,368	116,925
Gross profit	102,337	100,652	191,958	194,122
Gross profit percentage	67.00%	63.00%	64.30%	62.40%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product revenues	103,458	102,273	199,947	189,453
Services revenues	117,312	93,861	227,340	180,935
Total consolidated revenues	220,770	196,134	427,287	370,388
Cost of sales	41,619	128,234	114,774	208,153
Gross profit	179,151	67,900	312,513	162,235
Gross profit percentage	81.10%	34.60%	73.10%	43.80%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,661,869	2,579,201	5,249,155	5,091,524
Services revenues	1,528,899	1,345,299	2,982,590	2,597,882
Total consolidated revenues	4,190,768	3,924,500	8,231,745	7,689,406
Cost of sales	1,730,204	1,763,005	3,488,329	3,474,880
Gross profit	2,460,564	2,161,495	4,743,416	4,214,526
Gross profit percentage	58.70%	55.10%	57.60%	54.80%
Research and development	371,899	318,068	710,115	616,201
Selling, general and administrative	1,128,312	1,075,046	2,222,324	2,080,310
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	1,500,211	1,393,114	2,932,439	2,696,511
Operating income	960,353	768,381	1,810,977	1,518,015
Other income (expense), net	(28,911)	(8,953)	(57,413)	(32,946)
Income before provision for income taxes	931,442	759,428	1,753,564	1,485,069
Income tax provision	275,033	210,303	495,486	382,517
Net income	656,409	549,125	1,258,078	1,102,552
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	656,409	549,125	1,258,078	1,102,552
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC
Revenues:
Product revenues	516,868	464,783	998,439	883,719
Services revenues	603,757	456,055	1,175,587	879,831
Total consolidated revenues	1,120,625	920,838	2,174,026	1,763,550
Cost of sales	136,554	132,465	264,739	259,755
Gross profit	984,071	788,373	1,909,287	1,503,795
Gross profit percentage	87.80%	85.60%	87.80%	85.30%
Research and development	198,729	140,338	377,394	263,999
Selling, general and administrative	433,649	354,839	838,242	689,428
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	632,378	495,177	1,215,636	953,427
Operating income	351,693	293,196	693,651	550,368
Other income (expense), net	4,538	2,745	11,839	4,269
Income before provision for income taxes	356,231	295,941	705,490	554,637
Income tax provision	48,810	31,509	111,779	80,762
Net income	307,421	264,432	593,711	473,875
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(63,199)	(55,311)	(121,787)	(96,990)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	244,222	209,121	471,924	376,885
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product revenues	0	0	0	0
Services revenues	0	0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues	0	0	0	0
Cost of sales	97,242	69,581	192,093	138,983
Gross profit	(97,242)	(69,581)	(192,093)	(138,983)
Research and development	85,313	80,485	156,249	160,799
Selling, general and administrative	154,689	145,804	306,281	301,882
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	27,603	21,216	53,496	48,109
Total costs and expenses	267,605	247,505	516,026	510,790
Operating income	(364,847)	(317,086)	(708,119)	(649,773)
Other income (expense), net	(19,152)	26,075	(30,372)	(1,382)
Income before provision for income taxes	(383,999)	(291,011)	(738,491)	(651,155)
Income tax provision	(109,587)	(69,081)	(202,099)	(168,909)
Net income	(274,412)	(221,930)	(536,392)	(482,246)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	23,295	10,178	42,746	26,451
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$ (251,117)	$ (211,752)	$ (493,646)	$ (455,795)