Segment Information - Segment Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Revenues:
Product revenues									$ 13,060,523	$ 12,590,742	$ 10,892,857
Services revenues									8,653,379	7,416,846	6,122,269
Total consolidated revenues	6,029,955	5,278,176	5,311,393	5,094,378	5,574,431	4,980,201	4,845,338	4,607,618	21,713,902	20,007,588	17,015,126
Cost of sales									8,075,539	7,838,646	6,984,145
Gross profit	3,890,214	3,287,539	3,347,393	3,113,217	3,523,339	3,066,265	2,880,287	2,699,051	13,638,363	12,168,942	10,030,981
Gross profit percentage									62.80%	60.80%	59.00%
Research and development									2,559,612	2,149,787	1,888,015
Selling, general and administrative									7,004,287	6,479,382	5,375,305
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									110,590	97,334	84,375
Total costs and expenses									9,674,489	8,726,503	7,347,695
Operating income									3,963,874	3,442,439	2,683,286
Other income (expense), net									(160,259)	(193,169)	(75,303)
Income before provision for income taxes									3,803,615	3,249,270	2,607,983
Income tax provision									917,598	640,385	638,297
Net income									2,886,017	2,608,885	1,969,686
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.									(153,404)	(147,548)	(69,691)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	869,919	626,338	649,514	586,842	832,046	605,649	546,494	477,148	2,732,613	2,461,337	1,899,995
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product revenues									10,362,787	10,100,473	8,838,038
Services revenues									5,226,588	4,654,706	3,904,072
Total consolidated revenues									15,589,375	14,755,179	12,742,110
Cost of sales									6,650,070	6,428,687	5,851,395
Gross profit									8,939,305	8,326,492	6,890,715
Gross profit percentage									57.30%	56.40%	54.10%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product revenues									200,830	209,337	255,387
Services revenues									439,351	452,015	437,512
Total consolidated revenues									640,181	661,352	692,899
Cost of sales									208,226	236,613	243,226
Gross profit									431,955	424,739	449,673
Gross profit percentage									67.50%	64.20%	64.90%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product revenues									412,279	440,790	400,151
Services revenues									476,466	387,413	329,233
Total consolidated revenues									888,745	828,203	729,384
Cost of sales									284,462	357,669	221,579
Gross profit									604,283	470,534	507,805
Gross profit percentage									68.00%	56.80%	69.60%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product revenues									10,975,896	10,750,600	9,493,576
Services revenues									6,142,405	5,494,134	4,670,817
Total consolidated revenues									17,118,301	16,244,734	14,164,393
Cost of sales									7,142,758	7,022,969	6,316,200
Gross profit									9,975,543	9,221,765	7,848,193
Gross profit percentage									58.30%	56.80%	55.40%
Research and development									1,445,379	1,239,333	1,122,835
Selling, general and administrative									4,564,470	4,392,205	3,737,081
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									6,009,849	5,631,538	4,859,916
Operating income									3,965,694	3,590,227	2,988,277
Other income (expense), net									(131,373)	(148,924)	48,214
Income before provision for income taxes									3,834,321	3,441,303	3,036,491
Income tax provision									1,003,338	860,713	742,736
Net income									2,830,983	2,580,590	2,293,755
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.									0	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									2,830,983	2,580,590	2,293,755
VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC
Revenues:
Product revenues									2,084,627	1,840,142	1,399,281
Services revenues									2,510,974	1,922,712	1,451,452
Total consolidated revenues									4,595,601	3,762,854	2,850,733
Cost of sales									542,943	533,329	425,257
Gross profit									4,052,658	3,229,525	2,425,476
Gross profit percentage									88.20%	85.80%	85.10%
Research and development									776,347	587,902	477,799
Selling, general and administrative									1,799,370	1,480,792	1,160,768
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									2,575,717	2,068,694	1,638,567
Operating income									1,476,941	1,160,831	786,909
Other income (expense), net									27,580	6,734	(16,458)
Income before provision for income taxes									1,504,521	1,167,565	770,451
Income tax provision									260,365	128,634	128,233
Net income									1,244,156	1,038,931	642,218
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.									(254,858)	(208,894)	(124,728)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									989,298	830,037	517,490
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product revenues									0	0	0
Services revenues									0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues									0	0	0
Cost of sales									389,838	282,348	242,688
Gross profit									(389,838)	(282,348)	(242,688)
Gross profit percentage									0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development									337,886	322,552	287,381
Selling, general and administrative									640,447	606,385	477,456
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									110,590	97,334	84,375
Total costs and expenses									1,088,923	1,026,271	849,212
Operating income									(1,478,761)	(1,308,619)	(1,091,900)
Other income (expense), net									(56,466)	(50,979)	(107,059)
Income before provision for income taxes									(1,535,227)	(1,359,598)	(1,198,959)
Income tax provision									(346,105)	(348,962)	(232,672)
Net income									(1,189,122)	(1,010,636)	(966,287)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.									101,454	61,346	55,037
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									$ (1,087,668)	$ (949,290)	$ (911,250)