Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Credit, Research, Percent	3.50%
Net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards	$ 54,000,000	$ 59,000,000	$ 20,000,000
International reorganization of acquired companies	0.60%	0.30%	0.00%
Effective income tax rate	20.00%	24.10%	19.70%
Net operating loss carryforward, federal	219,000,000
Net operating loss carryforward, state	277,000,000
Net operating loss carryforward, foreign	45,000,000
Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Balance		4,000,000
Valuation allowance	211,000,000	183,000,000
Basis differences related to investments in foreign subsidiaries consisted of undistributed earnings	10,200,000,000	8,100,000,000
Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments	17,600,000,000
Income before income taxes from foreign operations	2,300,000,000	1,900,000,000	1,800,000,000
Income before income taxes from domestic operations	1,600,000,000	1,900,000,000	1,500,000,000
Unrecognized tax benefits, if recognized, would have been recorded as a reduction to income tax expense	261,000,000	255,000,000	187,000,000
Net reduction in uncertain tax positions			71,000,000
Recognition (reversal) of previously recorded interest expense resulting from third party settlement	9,000,000	4,000,000	1,000,000
Unrecognized tax benefits, accrued interest and penalties	42,000,000	35,000,000	32,000,000
Federal
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Tax credit carryforwards	2,000,000
Foreign
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Tax credit carryforwards	283,000,000
VMware
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments	6,200,000,000
VMware | International Entities
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments	4,100,000,000
EMC | International Entities
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments	4,300,000,000
Other non-current assets
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net non-current state and foreign deferred tax assets	$ 133,000,000	$ 116,000,000