Segment Information Segment information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Revenues:
Product sales	$ 3,319,000,000	$ 3,258,000,000	$ 6,327,000,000	$ 6,369,000,000
Services revenues	2,561,000,000	2,356,000,000	5,032,000,000	4,632,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	5,880,000,000	5,614,000,000	11,359,000,000	11,001,000,000
Gross profit	3,654,000,000	3,509,000,000	7,001,000,000	6,807,000,000
Gross profit percentage	62.10%	62.50%	61.60%	61.90%
Research and development	740,000,000	695,000,000	1,472,000,000	1,370,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	2,010,000,000	1,785,000,000	3,861,000,000	3,499,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	30,000,000	7,000,000	149,000,000	155,000,000
Total costs and expenses	2,780,000,000	2,487,000,000	5,482,000,000	5,024,000,000
Operating income	874,000,000	1,022,000,000	1,519,000,000	1,783,000,000
Other income (expense), net	(65,000,000)	(56,000,000)	(139,000,000)	(126,000,000)
Income before provision for income taxes	809,000,000	966,000,000	1,380,000,000	1,657,000,000
Income tax provision	187,000,000	216,000,000	326,000,000	292,000,000
Net income	622,000,000	750,000,000	1,054,000,000	1,365,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(33,000,000)	(49,000,000)	(74,000,000)	(84,000,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	589,000,000	701,000,000	980,000,000	1,281,000,000
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product sales	2,551,000,000	2,577,000,000	4,853,000,000	5,048,000,000
Services revenues	1,425,000,000	1,377,000,000	2,803,000,000	2,704,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	3,976,000,000	3,954,000,000	7,656,000,000	7,752,000,000
Gross profit	2,192,000,000	2,236,000,000	4,168,000,000	4,324,000,000
Gross profit percentage	55.10%	56.50%	54.40%	55.80%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product sales	37,000,000	39,000,000	72,000,000	82,000,000
Services revenues	121,000,000	113,000,000	240,000,000	226,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	158,000,000	152,000,000	312,000,000	308,000,000
Gross profit	100,000,000	96,000,000	199,000,000	195,000,000
Gross profit percentage	63.20%	63.10%	63.90%	63.40%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product sales	104,000,000	98,000,000	208,000,000	198,000,000
Services revenues	139,000,000	130,000,000	278,000,000	262,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	243,000,000	228,000,000	486,000,000	460,000,000
Gross profit	162,000,000	148,000,000	323,000,000	301,000,000
Gross profit percentage	66.70%	65.10%	66.40%	65.20%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product sales	2,692,000,000	2,714,000,000	5,133,000,000	5,328,000,000
Services revenues	1,685,000,000	1,620,000,000	3,321,000,000	3,192,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	4,377,000,000	4,334,000,000	8,454,000,000	8,520,000,000
Gross profit	2,454,000,000	2,480,000,000	4,690,000,000	4,820,000,000
Gross profit percentage	56.10%	57.20%	55.50%	56.60%
Research and development	358,000,000	377,000,000	736,000,000	743,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,140,000,000	1,118,000,000	2,241,000,000	2,195,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	1,498,000,000	1,495,000,000	2,977,000,000	2,938,000,000
Operating income	956,000,000	985,000,000	1,713,000,000	1,882,000,000
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales	15,000,000	15,000,000	26,000,000	28,000,000
Services revenues	39,000,000	27,000,000	78,000,000	49,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	54,000,000	42,000,000	104,000,000	77,000,000
Gross profit	26,000,000	20,000,000	45,000,000	37,000,000
Gross profit percentage	47.20%	48.10%	42.90%	48.10%
Research and development	33,000,000	26,000,000	66,000,000	52,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	46,000,000	36,000,000	87,000,000	73,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	79,000,000	62,000,000	153,000,000	125,000,000
Operating income	(53,000,000)	(42,000,000)	(108,000,000)	(88,000,000)
EMC Information Infrastructure Plus Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales	2,707,000,000	2,729,000,000	5,159,000,000	5,356,000,000
Services revenues	1,724,000,000	1,647,000,000	3,399,000,000	3,241,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	4,431,000,000	4,376,000,000	8,558,000,000	8,597,000,000
Gross profit	2,480,000,000	2,500,000,000	4,735,000,000	4,857,000,000
Gross profit percentage	55.90%	57.10%	55.30%	56.50%
Research and development	391,000,000	403,000,000	802,000,000	795,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,186,000,000	1,154,000,000	2,328,000,000	2,268,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	1,577,000,000	1,557,000,000	3,130,000,000	3,063,000,000
Operating income	903,000,000	943,000,000	1,605,000,000	1,794,000,000
Other income (expense), net	(84,000,000)	(78,000,000)	(164,000,000)	(152,000,000)
Income tax provision	209,000,000	214,000,000	378,000,000	401,000,000
Net income	610,000,000	651,000,000	1,063,000,000	1,241,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	610,000,000	651,000,000	1,063,000,000	1,241,000,000
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC
Revenues:
Product sales	612,000,000	529,000,000	1,168,000,000	1,013,000,000
Services revenues	837,000,000	709,000,000	1,633,000,000	1,391,000,000
Total consolidated revenues	1,449,000,000	1,238,000,000	2,801,000,000	2,404,000,000
Gross profit	1,272,000,000	1,109,000,000	2,457,000,000	2,150,000,000
Gross profit percentage	87.80%	89.60%	87.70%	89.40%
Research and development	246,000,000	207,000,000	474,000,000	397,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	602,000,000	489,000,000	1,139,000,000	939,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	848,000,000	696,000,000	1,613,000,000	1,336,000,000
Operating income	424,000,000	413,000,000	844,000,000	814,000,000
Other income (expense), net	8,000,000	3,000,000	15,000,000	7,000,000
Income tax provision	91,000,000	93,000,000	175,000,000	176,000,000
Net income	341,000,000	323,000,000	684,000,000	645,000,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(69,000,000)	(67,000,000)	(138,000,000)	(129,000,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	272,000,000	256,000,000	546,000,000	516,000,000
Corp Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues:
Product sales	0	0	0	0
Services revenues	0	0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	(98,000,000)	(100,000,000)	(191,000,000)	(200,000,000)
Gross profit percentage	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development	103,000,000	85,000,000	196,000,000	178,000,000
Selling, general and administrative	222,000,000	142,000,000	394,000,000	292,000,000
Restructuring and Acquisition-related Charges	30,000,000	7,000,000	149,000,000	155,000,000
Total costs and expenses	355,000,000	234,000,000	739,000,000	625,000,000
Operating income	(453,000,000)	(334,000,000)	(930,000,000)	(825,000,000)
Other income (expense), net	11,000,000	19,000,000	10,000,000	19,000,000
Income tax provision	(113,000,000)	(91,000,000)	(227,000,000)	(285,000,000)
Net income	(329,000,000)	(224,000,000)	(693,000,000)	(521,000,000)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	36,000,000	18,000,000	64,000,000	45,000,000
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$ (293,000,000)	$ (206,000,000)	$ (629,000,000)	$ (476,000,000)