Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 shares
Document-Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	EMC
Entity Registrant Name	EMC CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000790070
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	1,938,837,339