Segment Information - Segment Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues:
Product sales									$ 13,514	$ 14,051	$ 13,690
Services									11,190	10,389	9,532
Total consolidated revenues	$ 7,014	$ 6,079	$ 5,997	$ 5,613	$ 7,048	$ 6,032	$ 5,880	$ 5,479	24,704	24,440	23,222
Gross profit	4,360	3,705	3,587	3,339	4,505	3,743	3,654	3,347	$ 14,991	$ 15,249	$ 14,473
Gross profit percentage									60.70%	62.40%	62.30%
Research and development									$ 3,167	$ 2,991	$ 2,761
Selling, general and administrative									8,533	7,982	7,338
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									450	239	224
Total operating expenses									12,150	11,212	10,323
Operating income (expense)									2,841	4,037	4,150
Non-operating income (expense), net									41	(275)	(285)
Income tax provision									710	868	772
Net income									2,172	2,894	3,093
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									(182)	(180)	(204)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$ 771	$ 480	$ 487	$ 252	$ 1,147	$ 587	$ 589	$ 392	1,990	2,714	2,889
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product sales									10,200	10,785	10,738
Services									6,101	5,757	5,524
Total consolidated revenues									16,301	16,542	16,262
Gross profit									$ 8,518	$ 9,180	$ 9,109
Gross profit percentage									52.30%	55.50%	56.00%
Enterprise Content Division
Revenues:
Product sales									$ 156	$ 164	$ 180
Services									443	476	467
Total consolidated revenues									599	640	647
Gross profit									$ 407	$ 417	$ 419
Gross profit percentage									67.90%	65.20%	64.80%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product sales									$ 424	$ 462	$ 453
Services									564	573	534
Total consolidated revenues									988	1,035	987
Gross profit									$ 660	$ 698	$ 655
Gross profit percentage									66.80%	67.40%	66.40%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product sales									$ 10,780	$ 11,411	$ 11,371
Services									7,108	6,806	6,525
Total consolidated revenues									17,888	18,217	17,896
Gross profit									$ 9,585	$ 10,295	$ 10,183
Gross profit percentage									53.60%	56.50%	56.90%
Research and development									$ 1,593	$ 1,489	$ 1,461
Selling, general and administrative									4,834	4,583	4,571
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									6,427	6,072	6,032
Operating income (expense)									3,158	4,223	4,151
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales									87	65	66
Services									180	162	113
Total consolidated revenues									267	227	179
Gross profit									$ 104	$ 106	$ 91
Gross profit percentage									39.00%	46.50%	50.70%
Research and development									$ 109	$ 128	$ 109
Selling, general and administrative									216	183	161
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									325	311	270
Operating income (expense)									(221)	(205)	(179)
EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
Revenues:
Product sales									10,867	11,476	11,437
Services									7,288	6,968	6,638
Total consolidated revenues									18,155	18,444	18,075
Gross profit									$ 9,689	$ 10,401	$ 10,274
Gross profit percentage									53.40%	56.40%	56.80%
Research and development									$ 1,702	$ 1,617	$ 1,570
Selling, general and administrative									5,050	4,766	4,732
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									6,752	6,383	6,302
Operating income (expense)									2,937	4,018	3,972
Non-operating income (expense), net									27	(362)	(337)
Income tax provision									819	942	911
Net income									2,145	2,714	2,724
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									7	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									2,152	2,714	2,724
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC Corp
Revenues:
Product sales									2,723	2,575	2,253
Services									3,902	3,421	2,894
Total consolidated revenues									6,625	5,996	5,147
Gross profit									$ 5,780	$ 5,241	$ 4,589
Gross profit percentage									87.30%	87.40%	89.20%
Research and development									$ 1,066	$ 987	$ 826
Selling, general and administrative									2,606	2,390	2,003
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									3,672	3,377	2,829
Operating income (expense)									2,108	1,864	1,760
Non-operating income (expense), net									34	34	22
Income tax provision									398	385	317
Net income									1,744	1,513	1,465
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									(324)	(308)	(295)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									1,420	1,205	1,170
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product sales									(76)	0	0
Services									0	0	0
Total consolidated revenues									(76)	0	0
Gross profit									$ (478)	$ (393)	$ (390)
Gross profit percentage									0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development									$ 399	$ 387	$ 365
Selling, general and administrative									877	826	603
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									450	239	224
Total operating expenses									1,726	1,452	1,192
Operating income (expense)									(2,204)	(1,845)	(1,582)
Non-operating income (expense), net									(20)	53	30
Income tax provision									(507)	(459)	(456)
Net income									(1,717)	(1,333)	(1,096)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest									135	128	91
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation									$ (1,582)	$ (1,205)	$ (1,005)