Segment Information - Segment Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Revenues:
Product sales									$ 14,051	$ 13,690	$ 13,061
Services									10,389	9,532	8,653
Total consolidated revenues	7,048	6,032	5,880	5,479	6,682	5,539	5,614	5,387	24,440	23,222	21,714
Gross profit	4,505	3,743	3,654	3,347	4,224	3,442	3,509	3,298	15,249	14,473	13,638
Gross profit percentage									62.40%	62.30%	62.80%
Research and development									2,991	2,761	2,560
Selling, general and administrative									7,982	7,338	7,004
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									239	224	110
Total costs and expenses									11,212	10,323	9,674
Operating income (loss)									4,037	4,150	3,964
Non-operating income (expense)									(275)	(285)	(160)
Income tax provision									868	772	918
Net income									2,894	3,093	2,886
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									(180)	(204)	(153)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	1,147	587	589	392	1,022	586	701	580	2,714	2,889	2,733
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product sales									10,785	10,738	10,316
Services									5,757	5,524	5,257
Total consolidated revenues									16,542	16,262	15,573
Gross profit									9,180	9,109	8,911
Gross profit percentage									55.50%	56.00%	57.20%
Enterprise Content Division
Revenues:
Product sales									164	180	200
Services									476	467	440
Total consolidated revenues									640	647	640
Gross profit									417	419	432
Gross profit percentage									65.20%	64.80%	67.50%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product sales									462	453	414
Services									573	534	475
Total consolidated revenues									1,035	987	889
Gross profit									698	655	604
Gross profit percentage									67.40%	66.40%	68.00%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product sales									11,411	11,371	10,930
Services									6,806	6,525	6,172
Total consolidated revenues									18,217	17,896	17,102
Gross profit									10,295	10,183	9,947
Gross profit percentage									56.50%	56.90%	58.20%
Research and development									1,489	1,461	1,410
Selling, general and administrative									4,583	4,571	4,488
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									6,072	6,032	5,898
Operating income (loss)									4,223	4,151	4,049
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales									65	66	73
Services									162	113	64
Total consolidated revenues									227	179	137
Gross profit									106	91	102
Gross profit percentage									46.50%	50.70%	74.40%
Research and development									128	109	116
Selling, general and administrative									183	161	151
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									311	270	267
Operating income (loss)									(205)	(179)	(165)
EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales									11,476	11,437	11,003
Services									6,968	6,638	6,236
Total consolidated revenues									18,444	18,075	17,239
Gross profit									10,401	10,274	10,049
Gross profit percentage									56.40%	56.80%	58.30%
Research and development									1,617	1,570	1,526
Selling, general and administrative									4,766	4,732	4,639
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									6,383	6,302	6,165
Operating income (loss)									4,018	3,972	3,884
Non-operating income (expense)									(362)	(337)	(177)
Income tax provision									942	911	968
Net income									2,714	2,724	2,739
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									2,714	2,724	2,739
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC Corp
Revenues:
Product sales									2,575	2,253	2,058
Services									3,421	2,894	2,417
Total consolidated revenues									5,996	5,147	4,475
Gross profit									5,241	4,589	3,976
Gross profit percentage									87.40%	89.20%	88.90%
Research and development									987	826	700
Selling, general and administrative									2,390	2,003	1,739
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									3,377	2,829	2,439
Operating income (loss)									1,864	1,760	1,537
Non-operating income (expense)									34	22	27
Income tax provision									385	317	271
Net income									1,513	1,465	1,293
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									(308)	(295)	(255)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									1,205	1,170	1,038
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product sales									0	0	0
Services									0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues									0	0	0
Gross profit									(393)	(390)	(387)
Gross profit percentage									0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development									387	365	334
Selling, general and administrative									826	603	626
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									239	224	110
Total costs and expenses									1,452	1,192	1,070
Operating income (loss)									(1,845)	(1,582)	(1,457)
Non-operating income (expense)									53	30	(10)
Income tax provision									(459)	(456)	(321)
Net income									(1,333)	(1,096)	(1,146)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									128	91	102
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									$ (1,205)	$ (1,005)	$ (1,044)