Segment Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011
Revenues:
Product revenues	$ 3,068,857,000	$ 2,931,259,000
Services revenues	2,025,521,000	1,676,359,000
Total consolidated revenues	5,094,378,000	4,607,618,000
Cost of sales	1,981,161,000	1,908,567,000
Gross profit	3,113,217,000	2,699,051,000
Gross profit percentage	61.10%	58.60%
Research and development	587,817,000	502,108,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,650,197,000	1,495,931,000
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	25,893,000	26,893,000
Total costs and expenses	2,263,907,000	2,024,932,000
Operating income	849,310,000	674,119,000
Other income (expense), net	(32,421,000)	(49,926,000)
Income before provision for income taxes	816,889,000	624,193,000
Income tax provision	190,910,000	121,639,000
Net income	625,979,000	502,554,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(39,137,000)	(25,406,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	586,842,000	477,148,000
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,454,735,000	2,384,011,000
Services revenues	1,234,172,000	1,055,466,000
Total consolidated revenues	3,688,907,000	3,439,477,000
Cost of sales	1,629,038,000	1,574,251,000
Gross profit	2,059,869,000	1,865,226,000
Gross profit percentage	55.80%	54.20%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product revenues	36,062,000	41,132,000
Services revenues	109,491,000	110,043,000
Total consolidated revenues	145,553,000	151,175,000
Cost of sales	55,932,000	57,705,000
Gross profit	89,621,000	93,470,000
Gross profit percentage	61.60%	61.80%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product revenues	96,489,000	87,180,000
Services revenues	110,028,000	87,074,000
Total consolidated revenues	206,517,000	174,254,000
Cost of sales	73,155,000	79,919,000
Gross profit	133,362,000	94,335,000
Gross profit percentage	64.60%	54.10%
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,587,286,000	2,512,323,000
Services revenues	1,453,691,000	1,252,583,000
Total consolidated revenues	4,040,977,000	3,764,906,000
Cost of sales	1,758,125,000	1,711,875,000
Gross profit	2,282,852,000	2,053,031,000
Gross profit percentage	56.50%	54.50%
Research and development	338,216,000	298,133,000
Selling, general and administrative	1,094,012,000	1,005,264,000
Total costs and expenses	1,432,228,000	1,303,397,000
Operating income	850,624,000	749,634,000
Other income (expense), net	(28,502,000)	(23,993,000)
Income before provision for income taxes	822,122,000	725,641,000
Income tax provision	220,453,000	172,214,000
Net income	601,669,000	553,427,000
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	601,669,000	553,427,000
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC
Revenues:
Product revenues	481,571,000	418,936,000
Services revenues	571,830,000	423,776,000
Total consolidated revenues	1,053,401,000	842,712,000
Cost of sales	128,185,000	127,290,000
Gross profit	925,216,000	715,422,000
Gross profit percentage	87.80%	84.90%
Research and development	178,665,000	123,661,000
Selling, general and administrative	404,593,000	334,589,000
Total costs and expenses	583,258,000	458,250,000
Operating income	341,958,000	257,172,000
Other income (expense), net	7,301,000	1,524,000
Income before provision for income taxes	349,259,000	258,696,000
Income tax provision	62,969,000	49,253,000
Net income	286,290,000	209,443,000
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	(58,588,000)	(41,679,000)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	227,702,000	167,764,000
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Cost of sales	94,851,000	69,402,000
Gross profit	(94,851,000)	(69,402,000)
Research and development	70,936,000	80,314,000
Selling, general and administrative	151,592,000	156,078,000
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	25,893,000	26,893,000
Total costs and expenses	248,421,000	263,285,000
Operating income	(343,272,000)	(332,687,000)
Other income (expense), net	(11,220,000)	(27,457,000)
Income before provision for income taxes	(354,492,000)	(360,144,000)
Income tax provision	(92,512,000)	(99,828,000)
Net income	(261,980,000)	(260,316,000)
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	19,451,000	16,273,000
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$ (242,529,000)	$ (244,043,000)