Segment information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Revenues:
Product revenues	$ 2,682	$ 2,905
Services revenues	2,793	2,708
Total consolidated revenues	5,475	5,613
Gross profit	$ 3,260	$ 3,339
Gross profit percentage	59.50%	59.50%
Research and development	$ 814	$ 788
Selling, general and administrative	1,987	2,037
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	49	135
Total operating expenses	2,850	2,960
Operating income (expense)	410	379
Non-operating income (expense), net	(24)	(6)
Income tax provision	89	82
Net income	297	291
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interests	(29)	(39)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	268	252
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,084	2,306
Services revenues	1,725	1,743
Total consolidated revenues	3,809	4,049
Gross profit	$ 1,953	$ 2,105
Gross profit percentage	51.30%	52.00%
Research and development	$ 378	$ 424
Selling, general and administrative	1,084	1,169
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	1,462	1,593
Operating income (expense)	491	512
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product revenues	27	16
Services revenues	56	38
Total consolidated revenues	83	54
Gross profit	$ 34	$ 22
Gross profit percentage	41.20%	40.30%
Research and development	$ 34	$ 27
Selling, general and administrative	58	49
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	92	76
Operating income (expense)	(58)	(54)
EMC Information Infrastructure Plus Pivotal
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,111	2,322
Services revenues	1,781	1,781
Total consolidated revenues	3,892	4,103
Gross profit	$ 1,987	$ 2,127
Gross profit percentage	51.10%	51.90%
Research and development	$ 412	$ 451
Selling, general and administrative	1,142	1,218
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	1,554	1,669
Operating income (expense)	433	458
Non-operating income (expense), net	(15)	(14)
Income tax provision	75	126
Net income	343	318
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interests	1	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	344	318
VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC
Revenues:
Product revenues	571	583
Services revenues	1,012	927
Total consolidated revenues	1,583	1,510
Gross profit	$ 1,373	$ 1,311
Gross profit percentage	86.70%	86.80%
Research and development	$ 283	$ 247
Selling, general and administrative	644	604
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	927	851
Operating income (expense)	446	460
Non-operating income (expense), net	9	8
Income tax provision	128	89
Net income	327	379
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interests	(68)	(74)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	259	305
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product revenues	0	0
Services revenues	0	0
Total consolidated revenues	0	0
Gross profit	$ (100)	$ (99)
Gross profit percentage	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development	$ 119	$ 90
Selling, general and administrative	201	215
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	49	135
Total operating expenses	369	440
Operating income (expense)	(469)	(539)
Non-operating income (expense), net	(18)	0
Income tax provision	(114)	(133)
Net income	(373)	(406)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interests	38	35
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	(335)	(371)
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product revenues	1,960	2,179
Services revenues	1,487	1,484
Total consolidated revenues	3,447	3,663
Gross profit	$ 1,711	$ 1,850
Gross profit percentage	49.60%	50.50%
Enterprise Content Division
Revenues:
Product revenues	$ 29	$ 27
Services revenues	105	111
Total consolidated revenues	134	138
Gross profit	$ 91	$ 90
Gross profit percentage	68.00%	65.20%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product revenues	$ 95	$ 100
Services revenues	133	148
Total consolidated revenues	228	248
Gross profit	$ 151	$ 165
Gross profit percentage	66.40%	66.60%