Quarterly Financial Data (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 5,574,431,000	$ 4,980,201,000	$ 4,845,338,000	$ 4,607,618,000	$ 4,888,666,000	$ 4,212,271,000	$ 4,023,497,000	$ 3,890,692,000	$ 20,007,588,000	$ 17,015,126,000	$ 14,025,910,000
Gross profit	3,523,339,000	3,066,265,000	2,880,287,000	2,699,051,000	2,966,289,000	2,486,974,000	2,359,199,000	2,218,519,000	12,168,942,000	10,030,981,000	7,744,899,000
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$ 832,046,000	$ 605,649,000	$ 546,494,000	$ 477,148,000	$ 628,559,000	$ 472,516,000	$ 426,216,000	$ 372,704,000	$ 2,461,337,000	$ 1,899,995,000	$ 1,088,077,000
Net income per weighted average share, diluted: common shareholders	$ 0.38	$ 0.27	$ 0.24	$ 0.21	$ 0.29	$ 0.22	$ 0.20	$ 0.17	$ 1.10	$ 0.88	$ 0.53