EMC 10-Q 4 May 15 2015 Q1 Quarterly report Financial data

Document_and_Entity_Informatio

Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Document-Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	FALSE
Document Period End Date	31-Mar-15
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	EMC
Entity Registrant Name	EMC CORP
Entity Central Index Key	790070
Current Fiscal Year End Date	-19
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	1,942,061,163

CONSOLIDATED_BALANCE_SHEETS

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$4,388	$6,343
Short-term investments	2,062	1,978
Accounts and notes receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts of $71 and $72	2,966	4,413
Inventories	1,292	1,276
Deferred income taxes	1,067	1,070
Other current assets	788	653
Total current assets	12,563	15,733
Long-term investments	7,022	6,334
Property, plant and equipment, net	3,742	3,766
Intangible assets, net	2,041	2,125
Goodwill	16,174	16,134
Other assets, net	1,751	1,793
Total assets	43,293	45,885
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,206	1,696
Accrued expenses	2,817	3,141
Income taxes payable	103	852
Deferred revenue	6,355	6,021
Total current liabilities	10,481	11,710
Income taxes payable	290	306
Deferred revenue	4,332	4,144
Deferred income taxes	270	274
Long-term debt (See Note 4)	5,495	5,495
Other liabilities	421	431
Total liabilities	21,289	22,360
Commitments and contingencies (See Note 13)
Shareholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, par value $0.01; authorized 25 shares; none outstanding	0	0
Common stock, par value $0.01; authorized 6,000 shares; issued and outstanding 1,942 and 1,985 shares	19	20
Additional paid-in capital	0	0
Retained earnings	20,887	22,242
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net	-457	-366
Total EMC Corporation’s shareholders’ equity	20,449	21,896
Non-controlling interests	1,555	1,629
Total shareholders’ equity	22,004	23,525
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$43,293	$45,885

CONSOLIDATED_BALANCE_SHEETS_Pa

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Accounts and notes receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts	$71	$72
Preferred stock, par value (in usd per share)	$0.01	$0.01
Preferred stock, authorized (in shares)	25,000,000	25,000,000
Preferred stock, outstanding (in shares)	0	0
Common stock, par value (in usd per share)	$0.01	$0.01
Common stock, authorized (in shares)	6,000,000,000	6,000,000,000
Common stock, issued (in shares)	1,942,000,000	1,985,000,000
Common stock, outstanding (in shares)	1,942,000,000	1,985,000,000

CONSOLIDATED_INCOME_STATEMENTS

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Revenues:
Product sales	$2,905	$3,008
Services	2,708	2,471
Total consolidated revenues	5,613	5,479
Costs and expenses:
Cost of product sales	1,329	1,296
Cost of services	945	836
Research and development	788	731
Selling, general and administrative	2,037	1,852
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	135	119
Operating income	379	645
Non-operating income (expense):
Investment income	24	36
Interest expense	-40	-34
Other income (expense), net	10	-76
Total non-operating income (expense)	-6	-74
Income before provision for income taxes	373	571
Income tax provision	82	139
Net income	291	432
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	-39	-40
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$252	$392
Net income per weighted average share, basic attributable to EMC Corporation common shareholders	$0.13	$0.19
Net income per weighted average share, diluted attributable to EMC Corporation common shareholders	$0.13	$0.19
Weighted average shares, basic	1,974	2,029
Weighted average shares, diluted	1,996	2,076
Cash dividends declared per common share (in usd per share)	$0.12	$0.10

CONSOLIDATED_STATEMENTS_OF_COM

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Net income	$291	$432
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes (benefits):
Foreign currency translation adjustments	-104	-4
Changes in market value of investments:
Changes in unrealized gains (losses), net of taxes (benefits) of $13 and $14	19	24
Reclassification adjustment for net losses (gains) realized in net income, net of benefits (taxes) of $(6) and $(3)	-8	-5
Net change in market value of investments	11	19
Changes in market value of derivatives:
Changes in unrealized gains (losses), net of taxes (benefits) of $3 and $(1)	14	-1
Reclassification adjustment for net losses (gains) included in net income, net of benefits (taxes) of $0 and $0	-11	-2
Net change in the market value of derivatives	3	-3
Other comprehensive income (loss)	-90	12
Comprehensive income	201	444
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	-39	-40
Less: Other comprehensive (income) loss attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	-1	-1
Comprehensive income attributable to EMC Corporation	$161	$403

CONSOLIDATED_STATEMENTS_OF_COM1

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Parenthetical) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Changes in unrealized gains (losses) - taxes (benefits)	$13	$14
Reclassification adjustment for net losses (gains) realized in net income - benefits (taxes)	-6	-3
Changes in market value of derivatives - taxes (benefits)	3	-1
Reclassification adjustment for net losses (gains) realized in net income - benefits (taxes)	$0	$0

CONSOLIDATED_STATEMENTS_OF_CAS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Cash flows from operating activities:
Cash received from customers	$7,495	$6,965
Cash paid to suppliers and employees	-5,584	-4,962
Dividends and interest received	24	55
Income taxes paid	-855	-720
Net cash provided by operating activities	1,080	1,338
Cash flows from investing activities:
Additions to property, plant and equipment	-197	-275
Capitalized software development costs	-128	-117
Purchases of short- and long-term available-for-sale securities	-2,421	-2,931
Sales of short- and long-term available-for-sale securities	1,311	2,362
Maturities of short- and long-term available-for-sale securities	422	1,307
Business acquisitions, net of cash acquired	-49	-1,068
Purchases of strategic and other related investments	-106	-22
Sales of strategic and other related investments	57	0
Increase in restricted cash	0	-76
Net cash used in investing activities	-1,111	-820
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from the issuance of EMC’s common stock	121	194
Repurchase of common stock	-1,346	-390
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	20	29
Payment of long- and short-term obligations	0	-1,665
Dividend payment	-232	-202
Net cash used in financing activities	-1,821	-2,115
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	-103	-3
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	-1,955	-1,600
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	6,343	7,891
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	4,388	6,291
Reconciliation of net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Net income	291	432
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	470	442
Non-cash restructuring and other special charges	11	5
Stock-based compensation expense	245	239
Provision for doubtful accounts	16	4
Deferred income taxes, net	-20	-47
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	-20	-29
Other, net	0	17
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Accounts and notes receivable	1,420	910
Inventories	-69	-139
Other assets	-45	-13
Accounts payable	-575	-369
Accrued expenses	-376	-236
Income taxes payable	-754	-535
Deferred revenue	494	650
Other liabilities	-8	7
Net cash provided by operating activities	1,080	1,338
VMware
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from noncontrolling interests - issuance of common stock and contributions	54	88
Repurchase of common stock	($438)	($169)

CONSOLIDATED_STATEMENTS_OF_SHA

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (USD $)	Total	Common Stock	Additional Paid-in Capital	Retained Earnings	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss	Non-controlling Interests
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Beginning Balance at Dec. 31, 2013	$23,786	$20	$1,406	$21,114	($239)	$1,485
Beginning Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2013		2,020
Increase (Decrease) in Shareholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock issued through stock option and stock purchase plans (in shares)		13
Stock issued through stock option and stock purchase plans	194	0	194
Tax benefit from stock options exercised	44		44
Restricted stock grants, cancellations and withholdings, net (in shares)		1
Restricted stock grants, cancellations and withholdings, net	-20	0	-20
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)		-16
Repurchase of common stock	-405		-405
Stock options issued in business acquisitions	24		24
Stock-based compensation	244		244
Cash dividends declared	-209			-209
Impact from equity transactions of non-controlling interests	-107		-124			17
Change in market value of investments	19				18	1
Change in market value of derivatives	-3				-3
Translation adjustment	-4				-4
Convertible debt conversions and warrant settlement	0		0
Net income	432			392		40
Ending Balance at Mar. 31, 2014	23,995	20	1,363	21,297	-228	1,543
Ending Balance (in shares) at Mar. 31, 2014		2,047
Beginning Balance at Dec. 31, 2014	23,525	20	0	22,242	-366	1,629
Beginning Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2014	1,985	1,985
Increase (Decrease) in Shareholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock issued through stock option and stock purchase plans (in shares)		6
Stock issued through stock option and stock purchase plans	121	0	121
Tax benefit from stock options exercised	13		13
Restricted stock grants, cancellations and withholdings, net (in shares)		5
Restricted stock grants, cancellations and withholdings, net	-64	0	-64
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)		-54
Repurchase of common stock	-1,446	-1	-64	-1,381
Stock-based compensation	295		295
Cash dividends declared	-226			-226
Impact from equity transactions of non-controlling interests	-415		-301			-114
Change in market value of investments	11				9	2
Change in market value of derivatives	3				4	-1
Translation adjustment	-104				-104
Net income	291			252		39
Ending Balance at Mar. 31, 2015	$22,004	$19	$0	$20,887	($457)	$1,555
Ending Balance (in shares) at Mar. 31, 2015	1,942	1,942

Basis_of_Presentation

Basis of Presentation	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation
	Company
	EMC Corporation (“EMC”) and its subsidiaries develop, deliver and support the information technology (“IT”) industry’s broadest range of information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure technologies, solutions and services. EMC manages the Company as part of a federation of businesses: EMC Information Infrastructure, VMware Virtual Infrastructure and Pivotal.
	EMC’s Information Infrastructure business provides a foundation for organizations to store, manage, protect, analyze and secure ever-increasing quantities of information, while at the same time improving business agility, lowering cost, and enhancing competitive advantage. EMC’s Information Infrastructure business comprises three segments – Information Storage, Enterprise Content Division and RSA Information Security.
	EMC’s VMware Virtual Infrastructure business, which is represented by EMC’s majority equity stake in VMware, Inc. (“VMware”), is the leader in virtualization infrastructure solutions utilized by organizations to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume IT resources. VMware’s virtualization infrastructure solutions, which include a suite of products and services designed to deliver a software-defined data center, run on industry-standard desktop computers and servers and support a wide range of operating system and application environments, as well as networking and storage infrastructures.
	EMC’s Pivotal business (“Pivotal”) unites strategic technology, people and programs from EMC and VMware and has built a new platform comprising of next-generation data, agile development practices and a cloud independent platform-as-a-service (“PaaS”). These capabilities are made available through Pivotal’s three primary offerings: the Pivotal Big Data Suite, Pivotal Labs and Pivotal Cloud Foundry.
	General
	The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of EMC, its wholly owned subsidiaries, as well as VMware and Pivotal, companies majority-owned by EMC. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated.
	Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in our annual consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014 which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2015.
	The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be expected for any future period or the entire fiscal year. The interim consolidated financial statements, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments necessary to fairly state the results as of and for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.
	Net Income Per Share
	Basic net income per weighted average share has been computed using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per weighted average share is computed using the weighted average number of common and dilutive common equivalent shares outstanding during the period. Common equivalent shares consist of stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units, the shares issuable under our $1.725 billion 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2013 (the “2013 Notes”) and the associated warrants. Additionally, for purposes of calculating diluted net income per weighted average share, net income is adjusted for the difference between VMware’s reported diluted and basic net income per weighted average share, if any, multiplied by the number of shares of VMware held by EMC.
	Investments in Joint Ventures
	We make investments in joint ventures. For each joint venture investment, we consider the facts and circumstances in order to determine whether it qualifies for cost, equity or fair value method accounting or whether it should be consolidated.
	In 2009, Cisco and EMC formed VCE Company LLC (“VCE”), with investments from VMware and Intel. In December 2014, EMC acquired the controlling interest in VCE and, since the date of acquisition, has consolidated VCE’s financial position and results of operations as part of EMC’s consolidated financial statements.
	Prior to the acquisition of the controlling interest in VCE, we considered VCE a variable interest entity and accounted for the investment under the equity method with our portion of the gains and losses recognized in other expense, net in the consolidated income statements for the majority of 2014. Our consolidated share of VCE’s losses, based upon our portion of the overall funding, was approximately 63% for the three months ended March 31, 2014. We recorded $75 million in net losses and $170 million in revenue from sales of product and services to VCE during the three months ended March 31, 2014.
	Reclassifications
	Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year’s presentation.
	Recent Accounting Pronouncements
	In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued updated guidance to clarify the required presentation of debt issuance costs.  The amended guidance requires that debt issuance costs be presented in the balance sheet as a direct reduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability rather than as an asset. It is effective beginning January 1, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The new guidance will be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.
	In May 2014, the FASB issued a standard on revenue recognition providing a single, comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers. The revenue standard is based on the principle that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard is effective beginning January 1, 2017, with no early adoption permitted. In April 2015, the FASB proposed a one-year delay in the effective date of the new standard to 2018. Under this proposal, early adoption will be allowed, but not earlier than the original effective date. The principles may be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented or retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of initial application. We are currently evaluating the adoption method options and the impact of the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

Noncontrolling_Interests

Non-controlling Interests	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Non-controlling Interests	Non-controlling Interests
	The non-controlling interests’ share of equity in VMware is reflected as a component of the non-controlling interests in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and was $1,450 million and $1,524 million as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. At March 31, 2015, EMC held approximately 97% of the combined voting power of VMware’s outstanding common stock and approximately 81% of the economic interest in VMware.
	The effect of changes in our ownership interest in VMware on our equity was as follows (table in millions):
		For the Three Months Ended
		March 31,			March 31,
		2015			2014
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	252		$	392
	Transfers (to) from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.:
	Increase in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s equity issuances	30			47
	Decrease in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s other equity activity	(331		)	(171		)
	Net transfers (to) from non-controlling interest	(301		)	(124		)
	Change from net income attributable to EMC Corporation and transfers from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	$	(49	)	$	268
	The non-controlling interests’ share of equity in Pivotal is reflected as a component of the non-controlling interests in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as $105 million at both March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. At March 31, 2015, EMC consolidated held approximately 84% of the economic interest in Pivotal. General Electric Company’s (“GE”) interest in Pivotal is in the form of a preferred equity instrument. Consequently, there is no net income attributable to non-controlling interest related to Pivotal on the consolidated income statements. Additionally, due to the terms of the preferred instrument, GE’s non-controlling interest on the consolidated balance sheets is generally not impacted by Pivotal’s equity related activity. The preferred equity instrument is convertible into common shares at GE’s election at any time.

Business_Combinations_Intangib

Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill	Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill
	During the three months ended March 31, 2015, EMC acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Renasar Technologies, Inc., which complements our Information Storage segment, and VMware acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Immidio B.V. The aggregate consideration for these two acquisitions was $49 million, net of cash acquired. The consideration was allocated to the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on estimated fair values as of the respective acquisition dates. The aggregate allocation to goodwill, intangibles, and net liabilities was approximately $38 million, $16 million and $5 million, respectively.
	The intangible assets acquired were primarily comprised of developed technology which have a weighted-average amortization period of 3.6 years. Most of our intangible assets are being amortized based upon the pattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible assets are being utilized; the remainder are amortized on a straight-line basis. Goodwill is calculated as the excess of the consideration over the fair value of the net assets, including intangible assets, and is primarily related to expected synergies from the transaction. The goodwill is not deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The results of these acquisitions have been included in the consolidated financial statements from the date of purchase. Pro forma results of operations have not been presented as the results of the acquired companies were not material to our consolidated results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015 or 2014.
	Intangible Assets
	Intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 consist of (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Gross Carrying		Accumulated			Net Book Value
		Amount		Amortization
	Purchased technology	$	2,949	$	(1,728	)	$	1,221
	Patents	225		(120		)	105
	Software licenses	108		(93		)	15
	Trademarks and tradenames	226		(141		)	85
	Customer relationships and customer lists	1,473		(1,003		)	470
	Leasehold interest	152		(17		)	135
	Other	46		(36		)	10
	Total intangible assets, excluding goodwill	$	5,179	$	(3,138	)	$	2,041
		December 31, 2014
		Gross Carrying		Accumulated			Net Book Value
		Amount		Amortization
	Purchased technology	$	2,935	$	(1,668	)	$	1,267
	Patents	225		(117		)	108
	Software licenses	108		(93		)	15
	Trademarks and tradenames	226		(136		)	90
	Customer relationships and customer lists	1,473		(974		)	499
	Leasehold interest	152		(16		)	136
	Other	44		(34		)	10
	Total intangible assets, excluding goodwill	$	5,163	$	(3,038	)	$	2,125
	Goodwill
	Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill, net, on a consolidated basis and by segment, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 consist of (table in millions):
		Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
		Information		Enterprise			RSA		Pivotal		VMware		Total
		Storage		Content Division			Information				Virtual
							Security				Infrastructure
	Balance, beginning of the period	$	8,266	$	1,486		$	2,203	$	171	$	4,008	$	16,134
	Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	21		—			—		—		17		38
	Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	2		—			—		—		—		2
	Balance, end of the period	$	8,289	$	1,486		$	2,203	$	171	$	4,025	$	16,174

Debt

Debt	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Debt	Debt
	Short-Term Debt
	On February 27, 2015, we entered into a credit agreement with the lenders named therein, Citibank, N.A., as Administrative Agent, Bank of America, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Syndication Agents, and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners (the “Credit Agreement”).  The Credit Agreement provides for a $2.5 billion unsecured revolving credit facility to be used for general corporate purposes that is scheduled to mature on February 27, 2020. At our option, subject to certain conditions, any loan under the Credit Agreement will bear interest at a rate equal to, either (i) the LIBOR Rate or (ii) the Base Rate (defined as the highest of (a) the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) Citibank, N.A.’s “prime rate” as announced from time to time, or (c) one-month LIBOR plus 1.00%), plus, in each case the Applicable Margin, as defined in the Credit Agreement. The Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants and events of default. We may also, upon the agreement of the existing lenders and/or additional lenders not currently parties to the agreement, increase the commitments under the credit facility by up to an additional $1.0 billion. In addition, we may request to extend the maturity date of the credit facility, subject to certain conditions, for additional one-year periods. As of March 31, 2015, we were in compliance with customary required covenants and we had not borrowed any funds under the credit facility.
	On March 23, 2015, we established a short-term debt financing program whereby we may issue short-term unsecured commercial paper notes (“Commercial Paper”). Amounts available under the program may be borrowed, repaid and re-borrowed from time to time, with the aggregate face or principal amount of the notes outstanding at any time not to exceed $2.5 billion. The Commercial Paper will have maturities of up to 397 days from the date of issue. The net proceeds from the issuance of the Commercial Paper are expected to be used for general corporate purposes. As of March 31, 2015, we were in compliance with customary required covenants and we had no Commercial Paper outstanding under the program.
	At May 4, 2015, we had $950 million of Commercial Paper outstanding, with a weighted-average interest rate of 0.16% and maturities ranging from 21 days to 59 days.
	Long-Term Debt
	In June 2013, we issued $5.5 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes (collectively, the “Notes”) which pay a fixed rate of interest semi-annually in arrears. The first interest payment occurred on December 2, 2013. The proceeds from the Notes have been used to satisfy the cash payment obligation of the converted 2013 Notes as well as for general corporate purposes including stock repurchases, business acquisitions, dividend payments, working capital needs and other business opportunities. The Notes of each series are senior, unsecured obligations of EMC and are not convertible or exchangeable. Unless previously purchased and canceled, we will repay the Notes of each series at 100% of the principal amount, together with accrued and unpaid interest thereon, at maturity. However, EMC has the right to redeem any or all of the Notes at specified redemption prices. As of March 31, 2015, we were in compliance with all debt covenants, which are customary in nature.
	Our long-term debt as of March 31, 2015 was as follows (dollars in millions):
	Senior Notes	Issued at Discount		Carrying
		to Par		Value
	$2.5 billion 1.875% Notes due 2018	99.943	%	$	2,499
	$2.0 billion 2.650% Notes due 2020	99.76	%	1,996
	$1.0 billion 3.375% Notes due 2023	99.925	%	1,000
				$	5,495
	The unamortized discount on the Notes consists of $5 million, which will be fully amortized by June 1, 2023. The effective interest rate on the Notes was 2.55% for the three months ended March 31, 2015.
	Convertible Debt
	In November 2006, we issued the 2013 Notes. These 2013 Notes matured and a majority of the noteholders exercised their right to convert the outstanding 2013 Notes as of December 31, 2013. Pursuant to the settlement terms, the majority of the converted 2013 Notes were settled on January 7, 2014. At that time, we paid the noteholders $1.7 billion in cash for the outstanding principal and 35 million shares for the $858 million in excess of the conversion value over the principal amount, as prescribed by the terms of the 2013 Notes.
	With respect to the conversion value in excess of the principal amount of the 2013 Notes converted, we elected to settle the excess with shares of our common stock based on a daily conversion value, determined in accordance with the indenture, calculated on a proportionate basis for each day of the relevant 20-day observation period. The actual conversion rate for the 2013 Notes was 62.6978 shares of our common stock per one thousand dollars of principal amount of 2013 Notes, which represents a 26.5% conversion premium from the date the 2013 Notes were issued and is equivalent to a conversion price of approximately $15.95 per share of our common stock.
	In connection with the issuance of the 2013 Notes, we entered into separate convertible note hedge transactions with respect to our common stock (the “Purchased Options”). The Purchased Options allowed us to receive shares of our common stock and/or cash related to the excess conversion value that we would pay to the holders of the 2013 Notes upon conversion. We exercised 108 million of the purchased options in conjunction with the planned settlements of the 2013 Notes and received 35 million shares of net settlement on January 7, 2014, representing the excess conversion value of the options.
	We also entered into separate transactions in which we sold warrants to acquire, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, approximately 215 million shares of our common stock at an exercise price of approximately $19.55 per share of our common stock. We received aggregate proceeds of $391 million from the sale of the associated warrants. Upon exercise, the value of the warrants was required to be settled in shares. Approximately half of the associated warrants were exercised in 2012 and the remaining 109 million associated warrants were exercised between February 18, 2014 and March 17, 2014 and were settled with 29 million shares of our common stock.
	The Purchased Options and associated warrants had the effect of increasing the conversion price of the 2013 Notes to approximately $19.31 per share of our common stock, representing an approximate 53% conversion premium based on the closing price of $12.61 per share of our common stock on November 13, 2006, which was the issuance date of the 2013 Notes.
	Interest Rate Swap Contracts
	In 2010, EMC entered into interest rate swap contracts with an aggregate notional amount of approximately $900 million. These swaps were designated as cash flow hedges of the semi-annual interest payments of the forecasted issuance of debt in 2011. In 2012, the interest rate swap contracts were settled and accumulated losses of $176 million were deferred as they were expected to be realized over the life of the new debt issued under the related interest rate swap contracts. The accumulated realized losses related to the settled swaps included in accumulated other comprehensive income are being realized over the remaining life of the ten year Notes. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, $6 million in losses were reclassified from other comprehensive income and recognized as interest expense in the consolidated income statements.

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]
Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities	Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities
	Our fixed income and equity investments are classified as available for sale and recorded at their fair market values. We determine fair value using the following hierarchy:
	•	Level 1 – Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
	•	Level 2 – Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.
	•	Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.
	Most of our fixed income securities are classified as Level 2, with the exception of some of our U.S. government and agency obligations and our investments in publicly traded equity securities, which are classified as Level 1, and all of our auction rate securities, which are classified as Level 3. In addition, our strategic investments held at cost are classified as Level 3. At March 31, 2015, the vast majority of our Level 2 securities were priced by pricing vendors. These pricing vendors utilize the most recent observable market information in pricing these securities or, if specific prices are not available for these securities, use other observable inputs like market transactions involving identical or comparable securities. In the event observable inputs are not available, we assess other factors to determine the security’s market value, including broker quotes or model valuations. Each month, we perform independent price verifications of all of our fixed income holdings. In the event a price fails a pre-established tolerance check, it is researched so that we can assess the cause of the variance to determine what we believe is the appropriate fair market value.
	In general, investments with remaining effective maturities of 12 months or less from the balance sheet date are classified as short-term investments. Investments with remaining effective maturities of more than 12 months from the balance sheet date are classified as long-term investments. Our publicly traded equity securities are classified as long-term investments and our strategic investments held at cost are classified as other assets. As a result of the lack of liquidity for auction rate securities, we have classified these as long-term investments as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. At March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, all of our short- and long-term investments, excluding auction rate securities, were recognized at fair value, which was determined based upon observable inputs from our pricing vendors for identical or similar assets. At March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, auction rate securities were valued using a discounted cash flow model.
	The following tables summarize the composition of our short- and long-term investments at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Amortized		Unrealized			Unrealized			Aggregate
		Cost		Gains			(Losses)			Fair Value
	U.S. government and agency obligations	$	2,261	$	5		$	(1	)	$	2,265
	U.S. corporate debt securities	2,390		6			(1		)	2,395
	High yield corporate debt securities	394		8			(7		)	395
	Asset-backed securities	87		—			—			87
	Municipal obligations	960		2			—			962
	Auction rate securities	29		—			(2		)	27
	Foreign debt securities	2,664		5			(1		)	2,668
	Total fixed income securities	8,785		26			(12		)	8,799
	Publicly traded equity securities	201		98			(14		)	285
	Total	$	8,986	$	124		$	(26	)	$	9,084
		December 31, 2014
		Amortized		Unrealized			Unrealized			Aggregate
		Cost		Gains			(Losses)			Fair Value
	U.S. government and agency obligations	$	1,951	$	2		$	(2	)	$	1,951
	U.S. corporate debt securities	1,998		1			(4		)	1,995
	High yield corporate debt securities	570		9			(16		)	563
	Asset-backed securities	53		—			—			53
	Municipal obligations	948		2			—			950
	Auction rate securities	29		—			(2		)	27
	Foreign debt securities	2,566		2			(4		)	2,564
	Total fixed income securities	8,115		16			(28		)	8,103
	Publicly traded equity securities	117		103			(11		)	209
	Total	$	8,232	$	119		$	(39	)	$	8,312
	We held approximately $2,668 million in foreign debt securities at March 31, 2015. These securities have an average credit rating of A+, and approximately 3% of these securities are deemed sovereign debt with an average credit rating of AA+. None of the securities deemed sovereign debt are from Argentina, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain or Cyprus.
	The following tables represent our fair value hierarchy for our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Level 1		Level 2			Level 3			Total
	Cash	$	2,254	$	—		$	—		$	2,254
	Cash equivalents	2,079		55			—			2,134
	U.S. government and agency obligations	1,250		1,015			—			2,265
	U.S. corporate debt securities	—		2,395			—			2,395
	High yield corporate debt securities	—		395			—			395
	Asset-backed securities	—		87			—			87
	Municipal obligations	—		962			—			962
	Auction rate securities	—		—			27			27
	Foreign debt securities	—		2,668			—			2,668
	Publicly traded equity securities	285		—			—			285
	Total cash and investments	$	5,868	$	7,577		$	27		$	13,472
	Other items:
	Strategic investments held at cost	$	—	$	—		$	339		$	339
	Investment in joint venture	—		—			37			37
	Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	—		(5,614		)	—			(5,614		)
	Foreign exchange derivative assets	—		87			—			87
	Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	—		(86		)	—			(86		)
	Commodity derivative liabilities	—		(5		)	—			(5		)
		31-Dec-14
		Level 1		Level 2			Level 3			Total
	Cash	$	2,022	$	—		$	—		$	2,022
	Cash equivalents	3,710		611			—			4,321
	U.S. government and agency obligations	1,141		810			—			1,951
	U.S. corporate debt securities	—		1,995			—			1,995
	High yield corporate debt securities	—		563			—			563
	Asset-backed securities	—		53			—			53
Municipal obligations	—		950			—			950
Auction rate securities	—		—			27			27
Foreign debt securities	—		2,564			—			2,564
Publicly traded equity securities	209		—			—			209
Total cash and investments	$	7,082	$	7,546		$	27		$	14,655
Other items:
Strategic investments held at cost	$	—	$	—		$	333		$	333
Investment in joint venture	—		—			37			37
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	—		(5,544		)	—			(5,544		)
Foreign exchange derivative assets	—		44			—			44
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	—		(71		)	—			(71		)
Commodity derivative assets	—		12			—			12
Our auction rate securities are predominantly rated investment grade and are primarily collateralized by student loans. The underlying loans of all but one of our auction rate securities, with a market value of $7 million, have partial guarantees by the U.S. government as part of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (“FFELP”) through the U.S. Department of Education. FFELP guarantees at least 95% of the loans which collateralize the auction rate securities. We believe the quality of the collateral underlying most of our auction rate securities will enable us to recover our principal balance.
To determine the estimated fair value of our investment in auction rate securities, we use a discounted cash flow model using a five year time horizon. As of March 31, 2015, the coupon rates used ranged from 0% to 3% and the discount rate was 1%, which rate represents the rate at which similar FFELP backed securities with a five year time horizon outside of the auction rate securities market were trading at March 31, 2015. The assumptions used in preparing the discounted cash flow model include an incremental discount rate for the lack of liquidity in the market (“liquidity discount margin”) for an estimated period of time. The discount rate we selected was based on AA-rated banks as the majority of our portfolio is invested in student loans where EMC acts as a financier to these lenders. The liquidity discount margin represents an estimate of the additional return an investor would require for the lack of liquidity of these securities over an estimated five year holding period. The rate used for the discount margin was 1% at both March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 due to the narrowing of credit spreads on AA-rated banks during 2014 and into 2015.
Significant changes in the unobservable inputs discussed above could result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement. Generally, an increase in the discount rate, liquidity discount margin or coupon rate results in a decrease in our fair value measurement and a decrease in the discount rate, liquidity discount margin or coupon rate results in an increase in our fair value measurement.
During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, there were no material changes to the fair value of our auction rate securities.
EMC has a 49% ownership percentage of LenovoEMC Limited, a joint venture with Lenovo that was formed in 2012. We account for our LenovoEMC joint venture using the fair value method of accounting. To determine the estimated fair value at inception of our investment, we used a discounted cash flow model using a three year time horizon, and utilized a discount rate of 6%, which represented the incremental borrowing rate for a market participant. The assumptions used in preparing the discounted cash flow model include an analysis of estimated Lenovo NAS revenue against a prescribed target as well as consideration of the purchase price put and call features included in the joint venture agreement. The put and call features create a floor and a cap on the fair value of the investment. As such, there is a limit to the impact on the fair value that would result from significant changes in the unobservable inputs. We had no changes to the assumptions utilized in the fair value calculation in the first quarter of 2015 and there were no material changes to the fair value of this joint venture during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.
The carrying value of the strategic investments held at cost were accounted for under the cost method. As part of our quarterly impairment review, we perform a fair value calculation of our strategic investments held at cost using the most currently available information. To determine the estimated fair value of private strategic investments held at cost, we use a combination of several valuation techniques including discounted cash flow models, acquisition and trading comparables. In addition, we evaluate the impact of pre- and post-money valuations of recent financing events and the impact of those on our fully diluted ownership percentages, and we consider any available information regarding the issuer’s historical and forecasted performance as well as market comparables and conditions. The fair value of these investments is considered in our review for impairment if any events and changes in circumstances occur that might have a significant adverse effect on their value.
Investment Losses
Unrealized losses on investments at March 31, 2015 by investment category and length of time the investment has been in a continuous unrealized loss position are as follows (table in millions):
	Less Than 12 Months					12 Months or Greater						Total
	Fair		Gross			Fair			Gross			Fair		Gross
	Value		Unrealized			Value			Unrealized			Value		Unrealized
			Losses						Losses					Losses
U.S. government and agency obligations	$	501	$	(1	)	$	—		$	—		$	501	$	(1	)
U.S. corporate debt securities	778		(1		)	—			—			778		(1		)
High yield corporate debt securities	138		(7		)	—			—			138		(7		)
Auction rate securities	—		—			27			(2		)	27		(2		)
Foreign debt securities	918		(1		)	—			—			918		(1		)
Publicly traded equity securities	106		(10		)	9			(4		)	115		(14		)
Total	$	2,441	$	(20	)	$	36		$	(6	)	$	2,477	$	(26	)
For all of our securities for which the amortized cost basis was greater than the fair value at March 31, 2015, we have concluded that currently we neither plan to sell the security nor is it more likely than not that we would be required to sell the security before its anticipated recovery. In making the determination as to whether the unrealized loss is other-than-temporary, we considered the length of time and extent the investment has been in an unrealized loss position, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuers, the issuers’ credit rating and the time to maturity.
Contractual Maturities
The contractual maturities of fixed income securities held at March 31, 2015 are as follows (table in millions):
	March 31, 2015
	Amortized		Aggregate
	Cost Basis		Fair Value
Due within one year	$	2,036	$	2,037
Due after 1 year through 5 years	5,905		5,920
Due after 5 years through 10 years	524		523
Due after 10 years	320		319
Total	$	8,785	$	8,799
Short-term investments on the consolidated balance sheet include $25 million in variable rate notes which have contractual maturities in 2015, and are not classified within investments due within one year above.

Inventories

Inventories	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]
Inventories	Inventories
	Inventories consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,		December 31,
		2015		2014
	Work-in-process	$	609	$	627
	Finished goods	683		649
		$	1,292	$	1,276

Accounts_and_Notes_Receivable_

Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Receivables [Abstract]
Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses	Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses
	Accounts and notes receivable are recorded at cost. The portion of our notes receivable due in one year or less are included in accounts and notes receivable and the long-term portion is included in other assets, net on the consolidated balance sheets. Lease receivables arise from sales-type leases of products. We typically sell, without recourse, the contractual right to the lease payment stream and assets under lease to third parties. For certain customers, we retain the lease.
	The contractual amounts due under the leases we retained as of March 31, 2015 were as follows (table in millions):
	Year	Contractual Amounts
		Due Under Leases
	Due within one year	$	71
	Due within two years	49
	Due within three years	37
	Thereafter	1
	Total	158
	Less: Amounts representing interest	5
	Present value	153
	Current portion (included in accounts and notes receivable)	68
	Long-term portion (included in other assets, net)	$	85
	Subsequent to March 31, 2015, we sold $6 million of these notes to third parties without recourse.
	We maintain an allowance for credit losses on our accounts and notes receivable. The allowance is based on the credit worthiness of our customers, including an assessment of the customer’s financial position, operating performance and their ability to meet their contractual obligation. We assess the credit scores for our customers each quarter. In addition, we consider our historical experience, the age of the receivable and current market and economic conditions. Uncollectible amounts are charged against the allowance account.
	In the event we determine that a lease may not be paid, we include in our allowance an amount for the outstanding balance related to the lease receivable. As of March 31, 2015, amounts from lease receivables past due for more than 90 days were not significant.
	During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, there were no material changes to our allowance for credit losses related to lease receivables.
	Gross lease receivables totaled $158 million and $233 million as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, before the allowance. The components of these balances were individually evaluated for impairment and included in our allowance determination as necessary.

Property_Plant_and_Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]
Property, Plant and Equipment	Property, Plant and Equipment
	Property, plant and equipment consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,			December 31,
		2015			2014
	Furniture and fixtures	$	265		$	255
	Equipment and software	6,842			6,684
	Buildings and improvements	2,345			2,308
	Land	162			162
	Building construction in progress	114			134
		9,728			9,543
	Accumulated depreciation	(5,986		)	(5,777		)
		$	3,742		$	3,766
	Building construction in progress at March 31, 2015 includes $76 million for facilities not yet placed in service that we are holding for future use.

Accrued_Expenses

Accrued Expenses	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]
Accrued Expenses	Accrued Expenses
	Accrued expenses consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,			December 31,
		2015			2014
	Salaries and benefits	$	942		$	1,251
	Product warranties	191			210
	Dividends payable (see Note 11)	234			237
	Partner rebates	179			235
	Restructuring, current (See Note 12)	188			123
	Derivatives	91			75
	Other	992			1,010
		$	2,817		$	3,141
	Product Warranties
	Systems sales include a standard product warranty. At the time of the sale, we accrue for systems’ warranty costs. The initial systems’ warranty accrual is based upon our historical experience, expected future costs and specific identification of systems’ requirements. Upon sale or expiration of the initial warranty, we may sell additional maintenance contracts to our customers. Revenue from these additional maintenance contracts is included in deferred revenue and recognized ratably over the service period. The following represents the activity in our warranty accrual for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 (table in millions):
		March 31,			March 31,
		2015			2014
	Balance, beginning of the period	$	210		$	289
	Provision	33			42
	Amounts charged to the accrual	(52		)	(57		)
	Balance, end of the period	$	191		$	274
	The provision includes amounts accrued for systems at the time of shipment, adjustments for changes in estimated costs for warranties on systems shipped in the period and changes in estimated costs for warranties on systems shipped in prior periods. It is not practicable to determine the amounts applicable to each of the components.

Income_Taxes

Income Taxes	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income Taxes	Income Taxes
	Our effective income tax rates were 22.0% and 24.3% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Our effective income tax rate is based upon estimated income before provision for income taxes for the year, composition of the income in different countries, and adjustments, if any, in the applicable quarterly periods for potential tax consequences, benefits and/or resolutions of tax audits or other tax contingencies. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, the effective income tax rate varied from the statutory income tax rate principally as a result of the mix of income attributable to foreign versus domestic jurisdictions. Our aggregate income tax rate in foreign jurisdictions is lower than our income tax rate in the United States; substantially all of our income before provision for income taxes from foreign operations has been earned by our Irish subsidiaries. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, the effective income tax rate varied from the statutory income tax rate principally as a result of the mix of income attributable to foreign versus domestic jurisdictions. On December 19, 2014, the Tax Increase Prevention Act was signed into law. Some of the provisions were retroactive to January 1, 2014 including an extension of the U.S. federal tax credit for increasing research activities through December 31, 2014. Our effective income tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014 do not reflect any federal tax credit for increasing research activities.
	Our effective income tax rate decreased in the three months ended March 31, 2015 from the three months ended March 31, 2014 due primarily to lower state taxes. There were also differences in the mix of income attributable to foreign versus domestic jurisdictions, change in tax contingency reserves and discrete items, the net impact of which is immaterial.
	We are routinely under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). We have concluded all U.S. federal income tax matters for years through 2008. In the third quarter of 2012, the IRS commenced a federal income tax audit for the tax years 2009 and 2010, which is expected to be completed in late 2015. In the first quarter of 2015, the IRS commenced a federal income tax audit for the tax year 2011, which is still in the early stage for information gathering. We also have income tax audits in process in numerous state, local and international jurisdictions. In our international jurisdictions that comprise a significant portion of our operations, the years that may be examined vary, with the earliest year being 2005. Based on the timing and outcome of examinations of EMC, the result of the expiration of statutes of limitations for specific jurisdictions or the timing and result of ruling requests from taxing authorities, it is reasonably possible that the related unrecognized tax benefits could change from those recorded in our statement of financial position. We anticipate that several of these audits may be finalized within the next twelve months. While we expect the amount of unrecognized tax benefits to change in the next twelve months, we do not expect the change to have a significant impact on our results of operations or financial position.

Shareholders_Equity

Shareholders' Equity	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Shareholders' Equity	Shareholders’ Equity
	The reconciliation from basic to diluted earnings per share for both the numerators and denominators is as follows (table in millions):
		For the Three Months Ended
		March 31,				March 31,
		2015				2014
	Numerator:
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	252			$	392
	Incremental dilution from VMware	(1		)		(2		)
	Net income – dilution attributable to EMC Corporation	$	251			$	390
	Denominator:
	Weighted average shares, basic	1,974				2,029
	Weighted common stock equivalents	22				26
	Assumed conversion of the 2013 Notes and associated warrants	—				21
	Weighted average shares, diluted	1,996				2,076
	Due to the cash settlement feature of the principal amount of the 2013 Notes, we only included the impact of the premium feature in our diluted earnings per share calculation when the 2013 Notes were convertible due to maturity or when the average stock price exceeded the conversion price of the 2013 Notes.
	Concurrent with the issuance of the 2013 Notes, we also entered into separate transactions in which we sold warrants to acquire, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, approximately 215 million shares of our common stock at an exercise price of approximately $19.55 per share of our common stock. Approximately half of the associated warrants were exercised in 2012 and the remaining 109 million warrants were exercised between February 18, 2014 and March 17, 2014 and were settled with 29 million shares of our common stock. As such, we included the impact of the remaining outstanding sold warrants in our diluted earnings per share calculation during the three months ended March 31, 2014.
	Restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and options to acquire shares of our common stock in the amount of 1 million and 6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share because they were antidilutive. The incremental dilution from VMware represents the impact of VMware’s dilutive securities on EMC’s consolidated diluted net income per share and is calculated by multiplying the difference between VMware’s basic and diluted earnings per share by the number of VMware shares owned by EMC.
	Repurchase of Common Stock
	We utilize both authorized and unissued shares (including repurchased shares) for all issuances under our equity plans. Our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of 250 million shares of our common stock in February 2013 and an additional 250 million shares of our common stock in December 2014. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, we spent $1.4 billion to repurchase 54 million shares of our common stock. Of the 500 million shares authorized for repurchase, we have repurchased 255 million shares at a total cost of $6.8 billion, leaving a remaining balance of 245 million shares authorized for future repurchases.
	VMware’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of $1.0 billion of VMware’s Class A common stock in August 2014 and an additional $1.0 billion of VMware’s Class A common stock in January 2015. All shares repurchased under VMware’s stock repurchase programs are retired. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, VMware spent $438 million to repurchase 5 million shares of their common stock. Of the $2.0 billion authorized for repurchase, VMware has a remaining balance of $1.5 billion authorized for future repurchases.
	Cash Dividend on Common Stock
	In May 2013, our Board of Directors approved the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend to EMC shareholders of $0.10 per share of common stock and in April 2014, our Board of Directors increased the dividend to $0.115 per share of common stock.
	Our Board of Directors declared the following dividends during 2015 and 2014:
	Declaration Date		Dividend Per Share				Record Date		Total Amount (in millions)				Payment Date
	2015:00:00
	February 27, 2015		$	0.115			April 1, 2015		$	229			April 23, 2015
	2014:00:00
	February 6, 2014		$	0.1			April 1, 2014		$	209			April 23, 2014
	April 17, 2014		$	0.115			July 1, 2014		$	237			July 23, 2014
	July 30, 2014		$	0.115			October 1, 2014		$	239			October 23, 2014
	December 9, 2014		$	0.115			January 2, 2015		$	234			January 23, 2015
	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
	Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), which is presented net of tax, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 consist of the following (tables in millions):
		Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments				Unrealized Net Gains on Investments				Unrealized Net Losses on Derivatives				Recognition of Actuarial Net Loss from Pension and Other Postretirement Plans			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Attributable to the Non-controlling Interest in VMware, Inc.			Total
	Balance as of December, 31 2014(a)	$	(188	)		$	49			$	(100	)		$	(126	)	$	(1	)	$	(366	)
	Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	(104		)		19				14				—			(1		)	(72		)
	Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	—				(8		)		(11		)		—			—			(19		)
	Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	(104		)		11				3				—			(1		)	(91		)
	Balance as of March 31, 2015(b)	$	(292	)		$	60			$	(97	)		$	(126	)	$	(2	)	$	(457	)
	__________________
	(a)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $31 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(64) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(70) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
	(b)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $38 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(61) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(70) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
		Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments				Unrealized Net Gains on Investments				Unrealized Net Losses on Derivatives				Recognition of Actuarial Net Loss from Pension and Other Postretirement Plans			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Attributable to the Non-controlling Interest in VMware, Inc.			Total
	Balance as of December, 31 2013(a)	$	(53	)		$	31			$	(106	)		$	(110	)	$	(1	)	$	(239	)
	Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	(4		)		24				(1		)		—			(1		)	18
	Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	—				(5		)		(2		)		—			—			(7		)
	Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	(4		)		19				(3		)		—			(1		)	11
	Balance as of March 31, 2014(b)	$	(57	)		$	50			$	(109	)		$	(110	)	$	(2	)	$	(228	)
	__________________
	(a)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $18 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(66) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(61) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
	(b)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $29 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(67) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(61) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
	The amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows (tables in millions):
			For the Three Months Ended
	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Components		31-Mar-15				31-Mar-14				Impacted Line Item on
											Consolidated Income Statements
	Net gain on investments:		$	14			$	8			Investment income
			(6		)		(3		)		Provision for income tax
	Net of tax		$	8			$	5
	Net gain on derivatives:
	Foreign exchange contracts		$	20			$	1			Product sales revenue
	Foreign exchange contracts		(3		)		1				Cost of product sales
	Interest rate swap		(6		)		—				Other interest expense
	Total net gain on derivatives before tax		11				2
			—				—				Provision for income tax
Net of tax		$	11			$	2

Restructuring_and_AcquisitionR

Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]
Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges	Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges
	For the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we incurred restructuring and acquisition-related charges of $135 million and $119 million, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, EMC incurred $111 million of restructuring charges, primarily related to our current year restructuring programs, and $1 million of charges in connection with acquisitions for financial, advisory, legal and accounting services. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, VMware incurred $22 million of restructuring charges, primarily related to its current year restructuring program, and $1 million of charges in connection with acquisitions for financial, advisory, legal and accounting services. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, EMC incurred $114 million of restructuring charges, primarily related to our 2014 restructuring programs, and VMware incurred $5 million of charges in connection with acquisitions for financial, advisory, legal and accounting services.
	In the first quarter of 2015, EMC implemented a restructuring program to create further operational efficiencies which will result in workforce reductions of approximately 1,320 positions. The actions will impact positions around the globe covering our Information Storage, RSA Information Security, Enterprise Content Division and Pivotal segments. The program was substantially completed during the first quarter of 2015 and will be fully completed by the end of 2015.
	In the first quarter of 2015, VMware eliminated approximately 350 positions across all major functional groups and geographies to streamline its operations. All of these actions are expected to be completed within a year of the start of the program.
	During the first quarter of 2014, EMC implemented a restructuring program to create further operational efficiencies which resulted in a workforce reduction of approximately 1,326 positions. The actions impacted positions around the globe covering our Information Storage, RSA Information Security and Enterprise Content Division segments. All of these actions were completed within a year of the start of the program.
	For the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we recognized $6 million and $5 million, respectively, of lease termination costs for facilities vacated in the period in accordance with our plan as part of all of our restructuring programs and for costs associated with terminating other contractual obligations. These costs are expected to be utilized by the end of 2016.
	The activity for the restructuring programs is presented below (tables in millions):
	Three Months Ended March 31, 2015:
	2015 EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2015			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,		Charges
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	—	$	107		$	(11	)	$	96
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		6			—			6
	Total	$	—	$	113		$	(11	)	$	102
	Other EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		Adjustments to the Provision			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	102	$	(2	)	$	(39	)	$	61
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	19		—			(5		)	14
	Total	$	121	$	(2	)	$	(44	)	$	75
	VMware Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2015			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,		Charges
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	8	$	22		$	(14	)	$	16
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		—			—			—
	Total	$	8	$	22		$	(14	)	$	16
	Three Months Ended March 31, 2014:
	2014 EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2014			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2014
		December 31,		Charges
		2013
	Workforce reductions	$	—	$	117		$	(15	)	$	102
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		2			(1		)	1
	Total	$	—	$	119		$	(16	)	$	103
	Other EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		Adjustments to the Provision			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2014
		December 31,
		2013
	Workforce reductions	$	66	$	(8	)	$	(21	)	$	37
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	24		3			(7		)	20
	Total	$	90	$	(5	)	$	(28	)	$	57

Commitments_and_Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Commitments and Contingencies	Commitments and Contingencies
	Litigation
	We are involved in a variety of claims, demands, suits, investigations and proceedings that arise from time to time relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to contracts, intellectual property, product liability, employment, benefits and securities matters. As required by authoritative guidance, we have estimated the amount of probable losses that may result from all currently pending matters, and such amounts are reflected in our consolidated financial statements. These recorded amounts are not material to our consolidated financial position or results of operations and no additional material losses related to these pending matters are reasonably possible. While it is not possible to predict the outcome of these matters with certainty, we do not expect the results of any of these actions to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Because litigation is inherently unpredictable, however, the actual amounts of loss may prove to be larger or smaller than the amounts reflected in our consolidated financial statements, and we could incur judgments or enter into settlements of claims that could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows in a particular period.

Segment_Information

Segment Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Segment Information	Segment Information
	We manage the Company as a federation of businesses: EMC Information Infrastructure, VMware Virtual Infrastructure and Pivotal. EMC Information Infrastructure operates in three segments: Information Storage, Enterprise Content Division and RSA Information Security, while VMware Virtual Infrastructure and Pivotal each operate as single segments.
	Our management measures are designed to assess performance of these reporting segments excluding certain items. As a result, the corporate reconciling items are used to capture the items excluded from the segment operating performance measures, including stock-based compensation expense, intangible asset amortization expense, restructuring charges and acquisition and other related charges. Additionally, in certain instances, infrequently occurring gains or losses are also excluded from the measures used by management in assessing segment performance. Research and development expenses, selling, general and administrative expenses and restructuring and acquisition -related charges associated with the EMC Information Infrastructure business are not allocated to the segments within the EMC Information Infrastructure business, as they are managed centrally at the EMC Information Infrastructure business level. EMC Information Infrastructure and Pivotal have not been allocated non-operating income (expense), net and income tax provision as these costs are managed centrally at the EMC corporate level. Accordingly, for the three segments within the EMC Information Infrastructure business, gross profit is the segment operating performance measure, while for Pivotal, operating income is the operating performance measure. The VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC amounts represent the revenues and expenses of VMware as reflected within EMC’s consolidated financial statements.
	Our segment information for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 is as follows (tables in millions, except percentages):
		EMC Information Infrastructure
		Information			Enterprise			RSA			EMC			Pivotal			EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
		Storage			Content			Information			Information
					Division			Security			Infrastructure
	Three Months Ended:
	March 31, 2015
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,179		$	27		$	100		$	2,306		$	16		$	2,322
	Services revenues	1,484			111			148			1,743			38			1,781
	Total consolidated revenues	3,663			138			248			4,049			54			4,103
	Gross profit	$	1,850		$	90		$	165		$	2,105		$	22		$	2,127
	Gross profit percentage	50.5		%	65.2		%	66.6		%	52		%	40.3		%	51.9		%
	Research and development										424			27			451
	Selling, general and administrative										1,169			49			1,218
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges										—			—			—
	Total operating expenses										1,593			76			1,669
	Operating income (expense)										$	512		$	(54	)	$	458
		EMC			VMware			Corp			Consolidated
		Information			Virtual			Reconciling
		Infrastructure plus Pivotal			Infrastructure			Items
	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2015
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,322		$	583		$	—		$	2,905
	Services revenues	1,781			927			—			2,708
	Total consolidated revenues	4,103			1,510			—			5,613
	Gross profit	$	2,127		$	1,311		$	(99	)	$	3,339
	Gross profit percentage	51.9		%	86.8		%	—		%	59.5		%
	Research and development	451			247			90			788
	Selling, general and administrative	1,218			604			215			2,037
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	—			—			135			135
	Total operating expenses	1,669			851			440			2,960
	Operating income (expense)	458			460			(539		)	379
	Non-operating income (expense), net	(14		)	8			—			(6		)
	Income tax provision	126			89			(133		)	82
	Net income	318			379			(406		)	291
	Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	—			(74		)	35			(39		)
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	318		$	305		$	(371	)	$	252
		EMC Information Infrastructure
		Information			Enterprise			RSA			EMC			Pivotal			EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
		Storage			Content			Information			Information
					Division			Security			Infrastructure
	Three Months Ended:
	March 31, 2014
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,302		$	35		$	104		$	2,441		$	11		$	2,452
	Services revenues	1,378			119			140			1,637			38			1,675
	Total consolidated revenues	3,680			154			244			4,078			49			4,127
	Gross profit	$	1,976		$	99		$	162		$	2,237		$	19		$	2,256
	Gross profit percentage	53.7		%	64.7		%	66.2		%	54.9		%	38.1		%	54.7		%
	Research and development										377			31			408
	Selling, general and administrative										1,102			41			1,143
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges										—			—			—
	Total operating expenses										1,479			72			1,551
	Operating income (expense)										$	758		$	(53	)	$	705
		EMC			VMware			Corp			Consolidated
		Information			Virtual			Reconciling
		Infrastructure plus Pivotal			Infrastructure			Items
	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2014
Revenues:
Product revenues	$	2,452		$	556		$	—		$	3,008
Services revenues	1,675			796			—			2,471
Total consolidated revenues	4,127			1,352			—			5,479
Gross profit	$	2,256		$	1,184		$	(93	)	$	3,347
Gross profit percentage	54.7		%	87.6		%	—		%	61.1		%
Research and development	408			229			94			731
Selling, general and administrative	1,143			537			172			1,852
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	—			—			119			119
Total operating expenses	1,551			766			385			2,702
Operating income (expense)	705			418			(478		)	645
Non-operating income (expense), net	(80		)	6			—			(74		)
Income tax provision	170			83			(114		)	139
Net income	455			341			(364		)	432
Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	—			(68		)	28			(40		)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	455		$	273		$	(336	)	$	392
Our revenues are attributed to the geographic areas according to the location of the customers. Revenues by geographic area are included in the following table (table in millions):
	For the Three Months Ended
	March 31,			March 31,
	2015			2014
United States	$	3,013		$	2,835
Europe, Middle East and Africa	1,559			1,592
Asia Pacific and Japan	729			722
Latin America, Mexico and Canada	312			330
Total	$	5,613		$	5,479
No country other than the United States accounted for 10% or more of revenues during the three months ended March 31, 2015 or 2014.
Long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets, in the United States were $4,383 million at March 31, 2015 and $4,380 million at December 31, 2014. Internationally, long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets, were $953 million at March 31, 2015 and $1,021 million at December 31, 2014. No country other than the United States accounted for 10% or more of total long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments and deferred tax assets, at March 31, 2015 or December 31, 2014.

Basis_of_Presentation_Policies

Basis of Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Company	Company
	EMC Corporation (“EMC”) and its subsidiaries develop, deliver and support the information technology (“IT”) industry’s broadest range of information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure technologies, solutions and services. EMC manages the Company as part of a federation of businesses: EMC Information Infrastructure, VMware Virtual Infrastructure and Pivotal.
	EMC’s Information Infrastructure business provides a foundation for organizations to store, manage, protect, analyze and secure ever-increasing quantities of information, while at the same time improving business agility, lowering cost, and enhancing competitive advantage. EMC’s Information Infrastructure business comprises three segments – Information Storage, Enterprise Content Division and RSA Information Security.
	EMC’s VMware Virtual Infrastructure business, which is represented by EMC’s majority equity stake in VMware, Inc. (“VMware”), is the leader in virtualization infrastructure solutions utilized by organizations to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume IT resources. VMware’s virtualization infrastructure solutions, which include a suite of products and services designed to deliver a software-defined data center, run on industry-standard desktop computers and servers and support a wide range of operating system and application environments, as well as networking and storage infrastructures.
	EMC’s Pivotal business (“Pivotal”) unites strategic technology, people and programs from EMC and VMware and has built a new platform comprising of next-generation data, agile development practices and a cloud independent platform-as-a-service (“PaaS”). These capabilities are made available through Pivotal’s three primary offerings: the Pivotal Big Data Suite, Pivotal Labs and Pivotal Cloud Foundry.
General	General
	The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of EMC, its wholly owned subsidiaries, as well as VMware and Pivotal, companies majority-owned by EMC. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated.
	Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in our annual consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014 which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2015.
	The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be expected for any future period or the entire fiscal year. The interim consolidated financial statements, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments necessary to fairly state the results as of and for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.
Net Income Per Share	Net Income Per Share
	Basic net income per weighted average share has been computed using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per weighted average share is computed using the weighted average number of common and dilutive common equivalent shares outstanding during the period. Common equivalent shares consist of stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units, the shares issuable under our $1.725 billion 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2013 (the “2013 Notes”) and the associated warrants. Additionally, for purposes of calculating diluted net income per weighted average share, net income is adjusted for the difference between VMware’s reported diluted and basic net income per weighted average share, if any, multiplied by the number of shares of VMware held by EMC.
Joint Ventures	Investments in Joint Ventures
	We make investments in joint ventures. For each joint venture investment, we consider the facts and circumstances in order to determine whether it qualifies for cost, equity or fair value method accounting or whether it should be consolidated.
	In 2009, Cisco and EMC formed VCE Company LLC (“VCE”), with investments from VMware and Intel. In December 2014, EMC acquired the controlling interest in VCE and, since the date of acquisition, has consolidated VCE’s financial position and results of operations as part of EMC’s consolidated financial statements.
	Prior to the acquisition of the controlling interest in VCE, we considered VCE a variable interest entity and accounted for the investment under the equity method with our portion of the gains and losses recognized in other expense, net in the consolidated income statements for the majority of 2014. Our consolidated share of VCE’s losses, based upon our portion of the overall funding, was approximately 63% for the three months ended March 31, 2014. We recorded $75 million in net losses and $170 million in revenue from sales of product and services to VCE during the three months ended March 31, 2014.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications
	Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year’s presentation.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements
	In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued updated guidance to clarify the required presentation of debt issuance costs.  The amended guidance requires that debt issuance costs be presented in the balance sheet as a direct reduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability rather than as an asset. It is effective beginning January 1, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The new guidance will be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.
	In May 2014, the FASB issued a standard on revenue recognition providing a single, comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers. The revenue standard is based on the principle that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard is effective beginning January 1, 2017, with no early adoption permitted. In April 2015, the FASB proposed a one-year delay in the effective date of the new standard to 2018. Under this proposal, early adoption will be allowed, but not earlier than the original effective date. The principles may be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented or retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of initial application. We are currently evaluating the adoption method options and the impact of the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

Noncontrolling_Interests_Table

Non-controlling Interests (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Effect of Changes in Ownership Interest in VMware on Equity	The effect of changes in our ownership interest in VMware on our equity was as follows (table in millions):
		For the Three Months Ended
		March 31,			March 31,
		2015			2014
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	252		$	392
	Transfers (to) from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.:
	Increase in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s equity issuances	30			47
	Decrease in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s other equity activity	(331		)	(171		)
	Net transfers (to) from non-controlling interest	(301		)	(124		)
	Change from net income attributable to EMC Corporation and transfers from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	$	(49	)	$	268

Business_Combinations_Intangib1

Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill	Intangible Assets
	Intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 consist of (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Gross Carrying		Accumulated			Net Book Value
		Amount		Amortization
	Purchased technology	$	2,949	$	(1,728	)	$	1,221
	Patents	225		(120		)	105
	Software licenses	108		(93		)	15
	Trademarks and tradenames	226		(141		)	85
	Customer relationships and customer lists	1,473		(1,003		)	470
	Leasehold interest	152		(17		)	135
	Other	46		(36		)	10
	Total intangible assets, excluding goodwill	$	5,179	$	(3,138	)	$	2,041
		December 31, 2014
		Gross Carrying		Accumulated			Net Book Value
		Amount		Amortization
	Purchased technology	$	2,935	$	(1,668	)	$	1,267
	Patents	225		(117		)	108
	Software licenses	108		(93		)	15
	Trademarks and tradenames	226		(136		)	90
	Customer relationships and customer lists	1,473		(974		)	499
	Leasehold interest	152		(16		)	136
	Other	44		(34		)	10
	Total intangible assets, excluding goodwill	$	5,163	$	(3,038	)	$	2,125
Changes in Carrying Amount of Goodwill	Goodwill
	Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill, net, on a consolidated basis and by segment, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 consist of (table in millions):
		Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
		Information		Enterprise			RSA		Pivotal		VMware		Total
		Storage		Content Division			Information				Virtual
							Security				Infrastructure
	Balance, beginning of the period	$	8,266	$	1,486		$	2,203	$	171	$	4,008	$	16,134
	Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	21		—			—		—		17		38
	Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	2		—			—		—		—		2
	Balance, end of the period	$	8,289	$	1,486		$	2,203	$	171	$	4,025	$	16,174

Debt_Tables

Debt (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Long-term Debt	Our long-term debt as of March 31, 2015 was as follows (dollars in millions):
	Senior Notes	Issued at Discount		Carrying
		to Par		Value
	$2.5 billion 1.875% Notes due 2018	99.943	%	$	2,499
	$2.0 billion 2.650% Notes due 2020	99.76	%	1,996
	$1.0 billion 3.375% Notes due 2023	99.925	%	1,000
				$	5,495

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets1

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]
Composition of Investments
		December 31, 2014
		Amortized		Unrealized			Unrealized			Aggregate
		Cost		Gains			(Losses)			Fair Value
	U.S. government and agency obligations	$	1,951	$	2		$	(2	)	$	1,951
	U.S. corporate debt securities	1,998		1			(4		)	1,995
	High yield corporate debt securities	570		9			(16		)	563
	Asset-backed securities	53		—			—			53
	Municipal obligations	948		2			—			950
	Auction rate securities	29		—			(2		)	27
	Foreign debt securities	2,566		2			(4		)	2,564
	Total fixed income securities	8,115		16			(28		)	8,103
	Publicly traded equity securities	117		103			(11		)	209
	Total	$	8,232	$	119		$	(39	)	$	8,312
	The following tables summarize the composition of our short- and long-term investments at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Amortized		Unrealized			Unrealized			Aggregate
		Cost		Gains			(Losses)			Fair Value
	U.S. government and agency obligations	$	2,261	$	5		$	(1	)	$	2,265
	U.S. corporate debt securities	2,390		6			(1		)	2,395
	High yield corporate debt securities	394		8			(7		)	395
	Asset-backed securities	87		—			—			87
	Municipal obligations	960		2			—			962
	Auction rate securities	29		—			(2		)	27
	Foreign debt securities	2,664		5			(1		)	2,668
	Total fixed income securities	8,785		26			(12		)	8,799
	Publicly traded equity securities	201		98			(14		)	285
	Total	$	8,986	$	124		$	(26	)	$	9,084
Fair Value Hierarchy For Financial Assets And Liabilities Measured At Fair Value	The following tables represent our fair value hierarchy for our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (tables in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Level 1		Level 2			Level 3			Total
	Cash	$	2,254	$	—		$	—		$	2,254
	Cash equivalents	2,079		55			—			2,134
	U.S. government and agency obligations	1,250		1,015			—			2,265
	U.S. corporate debt securities	—		2,395			—			2,395
	High yield corporate debt securities	—		395			—			395
	Asset-backed securities	—		87			—			87
	Municipal obligations	—		962			—			962
	Auction rate securities	—		—			27			27
	Foreign debt securities	—		2,668			—			2,668
	Publicly traded equity securities	285		—			—			285
	Total cash and investments	$	5,868	$	7,577		$	27		$	13,472
	Other items:
	Strategic investments held at cost	$	—	$	—		$	339		$	339
	Investment in joint venture	—		—			37			37
	Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	—		(5,614		)	—			(5,614		)
	Foreign exchange derivative assets	—		87			—			87
	Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	—		(86		)	—			(86		)
	Commodity derivative liabilities	—		(5		)	—			(5		)
		31-Dec-14
		Level 1		Level 2			Level 3			Total
	Cash	$	2,022	$	—		$	—		$	2,022
	Cash equivalents	3,710		611			—			4,321
	U.S. government and agency obligations	1,141		810			—			1,951
	U.S. corporate debt securities	—		1,995			—			1,995
	High yield corporate debt securities	—		563			—			563
	Asset-backed securities	—		53			—			53
	Municipal obligations	—		950			—			950
	Auction rate securities	—		—			27			27
	Foreign debt securities	—		2,564			—			2,564
	Publicly traded equity securities	209		—			—			209
	Total cash and investments	$	7,082	$	7,546		$	27		$	14,655
	Other items:
	Strategic investments held at cost	$	—	$	—		$	333		$	333
	Investment in joint venture	—		—			37			37
	Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	—		(5,544		)	—			(5,544		)
	Foreign exchange derivative assets	—		44			—			44
	Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	—		(71		)	—			(71		)
	Commodity derivative assets	—		12			—			12
Unrealized Losses on Investments by Investment Category and Length of Time in Continuous Unrealized Loss Position	Unrealized losses on investments at March 31, 2015 by investment category and length of time the investment has been in a continuous unrealized loss position are as follows (table in millions):
		Less Than 12 Months					12 Months or Greater						Total
		Fair		Gross			Fair			Gross			Fair		Gross
		Value		Unrealized			Value			Unrealized			Value		Unrealized
				Losses						Losses					Losses
	U.S. government and agency obligations	$	501	$	(1	)	$	—		$	—		$	501	$	(1	)
	U.S. corporate debt securities	778		(1		)	—			—			778		(1		)
	High yield corporate debt securities	138		(7		)	—			—			138		(7		)
	Auction rate securities	—		—			27			(2		)	27		(2		)
	Foreign debt securities	918		(1		)	—			—			918		(1		)
	Publicly traded equity securities	106		(10		)	9			(4		)	115		(14		)
	Total	$	2,441	$	(20	)	$	36		$	(6	)	$	2,477	$	(26	)
Contractual Maturities of Investments	The contractual maturities of fixed income securities held at March 31, 2015 are as follows (table in millions):
		March 31, 2015
		Amortized		Aggregate
		Cost Basis		Fair Value
	Due within one year	$	2,036	$	2,037
	Due after 1 year through 5 years	5,905		5,920
	Due after 5 years through 10 years	524		523
	Due after 10 years	320		319
	Total	$	8,785	$	8,799

Inventories_Tables

Inventories (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]
Components of Inventories	Inventories consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,		December 31,
		2015		2014
	Work-in-process	$	609	$	627
	Finished goods	683		649
		$	1,292	$	1,276

Accounts_and_Notes_Receivable_1

Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Receivables [Abstract]
Contractual Amounts Due Under Leases	The contractual amounts due under the leases we retained as of March 31, 2015 were as follows (table in millions):
	Year	Contractual Amounts
		Due Under Leases
	Due within one year	$	71
	Due within two years	49
	Due within three years	37
	Thereafter	1
	Total	158
	Less: Amounts representing interest	5
	Present value	153
	Current portion (included in accounts and notes receivable)	68
	Long-term portion (included in other assets, net)	$	85

Property_Plant_and_Equipment_T

Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]
Components of Property, Plant and Equipment	Property, plant and equipment consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,			December 31,
		2015			2014
	Furniture and fixtures	$	265		$	255
	Equipment and software	6,842			6,684
	Buildings and improvements	2,345			2,308
	Land	162			162
	Building construction in progress	114			134
		9,728			9,543
	Accumulated depreciation	(5,986		)	(5,777		)
		$	3,742		$	3,766

Accrued_Expenses_Tables

Accrued Expenses (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]
Components of Accrued Expenses	Accrued expenses consist of (table in millions):
		March 31,			December 31,
		2015			2014
	Salaries and benefits	$	942		$	1,251
	Product warranties	191			210
	Dividends payable (see Note 11)	234			237
	Partner rebates	179			235
	Restructuring, current (See Note 12)	188			123
	Derivatives	91			75
	Other	992			1,010
		$	2,817		$	3,141
Activity in Warranty Accrual for Product Warranty	The following represents the activity in our warranty accrual for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 (table in millions):
		March 31,			March 31,
		2015			2014
	Balance, beginning of the period	$	210		$	289
	Provision	33			42
	Amounts charged to the accrual	(52		)	(57		)
	Balance, end of the period	$	191		$	274

Shareholders_Equity_Tables

Shareholders' Equity (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Reconciliation from Basic to Diluted Earnings Per Share	The reconciliation from basic to diluted earnings per share for both the numerators and denominators is as follows (table in millions):
		For the Three Months Ended
		March 31,				March 31,
		2015				2014
	Numerator:
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	252			$	392
	Incremental dilution from VMware	(1		)		(2		)
	Net income – dilution attributable to EMC Corporation	$	251			$	390
	Denominator:
	Weighted average shares, basic	1,974				2,029
	Weighted common stock equivalents	22				26
	Assumed conversion of the 2013 Notes and associated warrants	—				21
	Weighted average shares, diluted	1,996				2,076
Dividends Declared
	Declaration Date		Dividend Per Share				Record Date		Total Amount (in millions)				Payment Date
	2015:00:00
	February 27, 2015		$	0.115			April 1, 2015		$	229			April 23, 2015
	2014:00:00
	February 6, 2014		$	0.1			April 1, 2014		$	209			April 23, 2014
	April 17, 2014		$	0.115			July 1, 2014		$	237			July 23, 2014
	July 30, 2014		$	0.115			October 1, 2014		$	239			October 23, 2014
	December 9, 2014		$	0.115			January 2, 2015		$	234			January 23, 2015
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss	Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), which is presented net of tax, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 consist of the following (tables in millions):
		Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments				Unrealized Net Gains on Investments				Unrealized Net Losses on Derivatives				Recognition of Actuarial Net Loss from Pension and Other Postretirement Plans			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Attributable to the Non-controlling Interest in VMware, Inc.			Total
	Balance as of December, 31 2014(a)	$	(188	)		$	49			$	(100	)		$	(126	)	$	(1	)	$	(366	)
	Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	(104		)		19				14				—			(1		)	(72		)
	Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	—				(8		)		(11		)		—			—			(19		)
	Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	(104		)		11				3				—			(1		)	(91		)
	Balance as of March 31, 2015(b)	$	(292	)		$	60			$	(97	)		$	(126	)	$	(2	)	$	(457	)
	__________________
	(a)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $31 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(64) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(70) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
	(b)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $38 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(61) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(70) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
		Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments				Unrealized Net Gains on Investments				Unrealized Net Losses on Derivatives				Recognition of Actuarial Net Loss from Pension and Other Postretirement Plans			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Attributable to the Non-controlling Interest in VMware, Inc.			Total
	Balance as of December, 31 2013(a)	$	(53	)		$	31			$	(106	)		$	(110	)	$	(1	)	$	(239	)
	Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	(4		)		24				(1		)		—			(1		)	18
	Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	—				(5		)		(2		)		—			—			(7		)
	Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	(4		)		19				(3		)		—			(1		)	11
	Balance as of March 31, 2014(b)	$	(57	)		$	50			$	(109	)		$	(110	)	$	(2	)	$	(228	)
	__________________
	(a)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $18 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(66) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(61) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
	(b)	Net of taxes (benefits) of $29 million for unrealized net gains on investments, $(67) million for unrealized net losses on derivatives and $(61) million for actuarial net loss on pension plans.
Reclassification Out Of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	The amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows (tables in millions):
			For the Three Months Ended
	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Components		31-Mar-15				31-Mar-14				Impacted Line Item on
											Consolidated Income Statements
	Net gain on investments:		$	14			$	8			Investment income
			(6		)		(3		)		Provision for income tax
	Net of tax		$	8			$	5
	Net gain on derivatives:
	Foreign exchange contracts		$	20			$	1			Product sales revenue
	Foreign exchange contracts		(3		)		1				Cost of product sales
	Interest rate swap		(6		)		—				Other interest expense
	Total net gain on derivatives before tax		11				2
			—				—				Provision for income tax
	Net of tax		$	11			$	2

Restructuring_and_AcquisitionR1

Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]
Activity for the Restructuring Programs	The activity for the restructuring programs is presented below (tables in millions):
	Three Months Ended March 31, 2015:
	2015 EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2015			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,		Charges
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	—	$	107		$	(11	)	$	96
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		6			—			6
	Total	$	—	$	113		$	(11	)	$	102
	Other EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		Adjustments to the Provision			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	102	$	(2	)	$	(39	)	$	61
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	19		—			(5		)	14
	Total	$	121	$	(2	)	$	(44	)	$	75
	VMware Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2015			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2015
		December 31,		Charges
		2014
	Workforce reductions	$	8	$	22		$	(14	)	$	16
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		—			—			—
	Total	$	8	$	22		$	(14	)	$	16
	Three Months Ended March 31, 2014:
	2014 EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		2014			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2014
		December 31,		Charges
		2013
	Workforce reductions	$	—	$	117		$	(15	)	$	102
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	—		2			(1		)	1
	Total	$	—	$	119		$	(16	)	$	103
	Other EMC Programs
	Category	Balance as of		Adjustments to the Provision			Utilization			Balance as of March 31, 2014
		December 31,
		2013
	Workforce reductions	$	66	$	(8	)	$	(21	)	$	37
	Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations	24		3			(7		)	20
	Total	$	90	$	(5	)	$	(28	)	$	57

Segment_Information_Tables

Segment Information (Tables)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Segment Information	Our segment information for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 is as follows (tables in millions, except percentages):
		EMC Information Infrastructure
		Information			Enterprise			RSA			EMC			Pivotal			EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
		Storage			Content			Information			Information
					Division			Security			Infrastructure
	Three Months Ended:
	March 31, 2015
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,179		$	27		$	100		$	2,306		$	16		$	2,322
	Services revenues	1,484			111			148			1,743			38			1,781
	Total consolidated revenues	3,663			138			248			4,049			54			4,103
	Gross profit	$	1,850		$	90		$	165		$	2,105		$	22		$	2,127
	Gross profit percentage	50.5		%	65.2		%	66.6		%	52		%	40.3		%	51.9		%
	Research and development										424			27			451
	Selling, general and administrative										1,169			49			1,218
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges										—			—			—
	Total operating expenses										1,593			76			1,669
	Operating income (expense)										$	512		$	(54	)	$	458
		EMC			VMware			Corp			Consolidated
		Information			Virtual			Reconciling
		Infrastructure plus Pivotal			Infrastructure			Items
	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2015
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,322		$	583		$	—		$	2,905
	Services revenues	1,781			927			—			2,708
	Total consolidated revenues	4,103			1,510			—			5,613
	Gross profit	$	2,127		$	1,311		$	(99	)	$	3,339
	Gross profit percentage	51.9		%	86.8		%	—		%	59.5		%
	Research and development	451			247			90			788
	Selling, general and administrative	1,218			604			215			2,037
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	—			—			135			135
	Total operating expenses	1,669			851			440			2,960
	Operating income (expense)	458			460			(539		)	379
	Non-operating income (expense), net	(14		)	8			—			(6		)
	Income tax provision	126			89			(133		)	82
	Net income	318			379			(406		)	291
	Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	—			(74		)	35			(39		)
	Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	318		$	305		$	(371	)	$	252
		EMC Information Infrastructure
		Information			Enterprise			RSA			EMC			Pivotal			EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
		Storage			Content			Information			Information
					Division			Security			Infrastructure
	Three Months Ended:
	March 31, 2014
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,302		$	35		$	104		$	2,441		$	11		$	2,452
	Services revenues	1,378			119			140			1,637			38			1,675
	Total consolidated revenues	3,680			154			244			4,078			49			4,127
	Gross profit	$	1,976		$	99		$	162		$	2,237		$	19		$	2,256
	Gross profit percentage	53.7		%	64.7		%	66.2		%	54.9		%	38.1		%	54.7		%
	Research and development										377			31			408
	Selling, general and administrative										1,102			41			1,143
	Restructuring and acquisition-related charges										—			—			—
	Total operating expenses										1,479			72			1,551
	Operating income (expense)										$	758		$	(53	)	$	705
		EMC			VMware			Corp			Consolidated
		Information			Virtual			Reconciling
		Infrastructure plus Pivotal			Infrastructure			Items
	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2014
	Revenues:
	Product revenues	$	2,452		$	556		$	—		$	3,008
	Services revenues	1,675			796			—			2,471
Total consolidated revenues	4,127			1,352			—			5,479
Gross profit	$	2,256		$	1,184		$	(93	)	$	3,347
Gross profit percentage	54.7		%	87.6		%	—		%	61.1		%
Research and development	408			229			94			731
Selling, general and administrative	1,143			537			172			1,852
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	—			—			119			119
Total operating expenses	1,551			766			385			2,702
Operating income (expense)	705			418			(478		)	645
Non-operating income (expense), net	(80		)	6			—			(74		)
Income tax provision	170			83			(114		)	139
Net income	455			341			(364		)	432
Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	—			(68		)	28			(40		)
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$	455		$	273		$	(336	)	$	392
Revenues By Geographic Area	Our revenues are attributed to the geographic areas according to the location of the customers. Revenues by geographic area are included in the following table (table in millions):
		For the Three Months Ended
		March 31,			March 31,
		2015			2014
	United States	$	3,013		$	2,835
	Europe, Middle East and Africa	1,559			1,592
	Asia Pacific and Japan	729			722
	Latin America, Mexico and Canada	312			330
	Total	$	5,613		$	5,479

Basis_of_Presentation_Addition

Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) (Convertible Senior Notes 2013, USD $)	Nov. 13, 2006
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Convertible Senior Notes 2013
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior notes included in calculation of net income per share	$1,725
Convertible senior notes interest rate	1.75%

Basis_of_Presentation_Schedule

Basis of Presentation Schedule of Equity Investments (Details) (VCE Company LLC, USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2014
VCE Company LLC
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity Method Investment Share Of Gain Losses	63.00%
Income (Loss) from Equity Method Investments	($75)
Revenue from Related Parties	$170

Noncontrolling_Interests_Addit

Non-controlling Interests - Additional Information (Details) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Non-controlling interest	$1,555	$1,629
VMware
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Non-controlling interest	1,450	1,524
Voting power of VMware's outstanding common stock	97.00%
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent	81.00%
Pivotal
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Non-controlling interest	$105	$105
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent	84.00%

Noncontrolling_Interests_Effec

Non-controlling Interests - Effect of Changes in Ownership Interest in VMware on Equity (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$252	$392
Transfers (to) from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.:
Net transfers (to) from non-controlling interest	-415	-107
VMware
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	252	392
Transfers (to) from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.:
Increase in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s equity issuances	30	47
Decrease in EMC Corporation’s additional paid-in-capital for VMware’s other equity activity	-331	-171
Net transfers (to) from non-controlling interest	-301	-124
Change from net income attributable to EMC Corporation and transfers from the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	($49)	$268

Business_Combinations_Intangib2

Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill - Additional Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
	acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid	$49	$1,068
Number of Businesses Acquired	2
Aggregate allocation to goodwill	16,174		16,134
All 2015 Acquisitions
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate consideration	49
Aggregate allocation to goodwill	38
Aggregate allocation to intangibles	16
Aggregate allocation to net liabilities	($5)
Weighted average amortization period of intangible assets acquired	3 years 6 months 20 days

Business_Combinations_Intangib3

Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill - Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	$5,179	$5,163
Accumulated Amortization	-3,138	-3,038
Net Book Value	2,041	2,125
Purchased technology
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	2,949	2,935
Accumulated Amortization	-1,728	-1,668
Net Book Value	1,221	1,267
Patents
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	225	225
Accumulated Amortization	-120	-117
Net Book Value	105	108
Software licenses
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	108	108
Accumulated Amortization	-93	-93
Net Book Value	15	15
Trademarks and tradenames
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	226	226
Accumulated Amortization	-141	-136
Net Book Value	85	90
Customer relationships and customer lists
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	1,473	1,473
Accumulated Amortization	-1,003	-974
Net Book Value	470	499
Leasehold interest
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	152	152
Accumulated Amortization	-17	-16
Net Book Value	135	136
Other
Schedule of Intangible Assets, Excluding Goodwill [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	46	44
Accumulated Amortization	-36	-34
Net Book Value	$10	$10

Business_Combinations_Intangib4

Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill - Goodwill (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	$16,134
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	38
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	2
Balance, end of the period	16,174
Information Storage
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	8,266
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	21
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	2
Balance, end of the period	8,289
Information Intelligence Group
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	1,486
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	0
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	1,486
RSA Information Security
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	2,203
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	0
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	2,203
Pivotal
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	171
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	0
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	171
VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	4,008
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	17
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	$4,025

Debt_Key_Components_of_Longter

Debt - Key Components of Long-term Debt (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Carrying Value	$5,495,000,000	$5,495,000,000
Long-term Notes $2.5B
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt, face amount	2,500,000,000
Stated interest rate	1.88%
Issued at Discount to Par	99.94%
Carrying Value	2,499,000,000
Long-term Notes $2.0B
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt, face amount	2,000,000,000
Stated interest rate	2.65%
Issued at Discount to Par	99.76%
Carrying Value	1,996,000,000
Long-term Notes $1.0B
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt, face amount	1,000,000,000
Stated interest rate	3.38%
Issued at Discount to Par	99.93%
Carrying Value	1,000,000,000
Long-term Notes $5.5B
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Carrying Value	$5,495,000,000

Debt_Additional_Information_De

Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)

0 Months Ended

1 Months Ended

3 Months Ended

60 Months Ended

1 Months Ended

Share data in Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified

Jan. 07, 2014

Nov. 30, 2006

Mar. 17, 2014

Mar. 31, 2015

Feb. 27, 2020

Apr. 30, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

Jan. 07, 2013

Nov. 13, 2006

Dec. 31, 2013

Jun. 30, 2013

Jun. 30, 2012

Dec. 31, 2010

Mar. 23, 2015

4-May-15

Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity

$2,500,000,000

line of credit available increase to credit facility

1,000,000,000

Convertible Senior Notes 2013

Senior Notes

1,725,000,000

Stated interest rate

1.75%

Cash payment to noteholders for outstanding principal of converted Notes

1,700,000,000

Shares issued to noteholders for the excess of the conversion value over the principal amount of converted Notes (in shares)

35

Value of the conversion value over the principal amount of converted Notes

858,000,000

Observation period

20 days

Convertible conversion ratio

62.6978

Conversion premium

26.50%

Conversion price per share

$15.95

Purchased Options

Purchased Options Remaining

108

Purchased options shares received

35

Sold Warrants

Incremental common shares attributable to call options and warrants

215

Common stock at an exercise price

$19.55

$19.31

Proceeds from issuance of warrants

391,000,000

Conversion premium based on the closing price

53.00%

Closing price per share

$12.61

Warrant

Warrants exercised

109,000,000

Exercised Warrants

Shares issues for exercised warrants

29

Long-term Debt

Unamortized discount

5,000,000

Effective interest rate

2.55%

Long-term Debt

Long term debt, aggregate principal

5,500,000,000

Interest Rate Swap

Aggregate notional amount of interest rate swap contracts designated as cash flow hedges

900,000,000

Losses on swaps at time of settlement, deferred

176,000,000

Losses reclassified from other comprehensive income and recognized as interest expense

6,000,000

Commercial Paper [Member]

Commercial Paper Maximum Borrowing Amount

2,500,000,000

Short-term Debt, Terms

The Commercial Paper will have maturities of up to 397 days from the date of issue

Scenario, Forecast

Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date

27-Feb-20

Line of Credit Facility, Description

At our option, subject to certain conditions, any loan under the Credit Agreement will bear interest at a rate equal to, either (i) the LIBOR Rate or (ii) the Base Rate (defined as the highest of (a) the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) Citibank, N.A.’s “prime rate” as announced from time to time, or (c) one-month LIBOR plus 1.00%), plus, in each case the Applicable Margin, as defined in the Credit Agreement

Subsequent Event | Commercial Paper [Member]

Proceeds from Issuance of Commercial Paper

$950,000,000

Short-term Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate

0.16%

Subsequent Event | Minimum | Commercial Paper [Member]

Short-term Debt, Terms

P0Y0M21D

Subsequent Event | Maximum | Commercial Paper [Member]

Short-term Debt, Terms

P0Y0M59D

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets2

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Composition of Investments (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
U.S. government and agency obligations
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$2,261	$1,951
Unrealized Gains	5	2
Unrealized (Losses)	-1	-2
Aggregate Fair Value	2,265	1,951
U.S. corporate debt securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	2,390	1,998
Unrealized Gains	6	1
Unrealized (Losses)	-1	-4
Aggregate Fair Value	2,395	1,995
High yield corporate debt securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	394	570
Unrealized Gains	8	9
Unrealized (Losses)	-7	-16
Aggregate Fair Value	395	563
Asset-backed securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	87	53
Unrealized Gains	0	0
Unrealized (Losses)	0	0
Aggregate Fair Value	87	53
Municipal obligations
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	960	948
Unrealized Gains	2	2
Unrealized (Losses)	0	0
Aggregate Fair Value	962	950
Auction rate securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	29	29
Unrealized Gains	0	0
Unrealized (Losses)	-2	-2
Aggregate Fair Value	27	27
Foreign debt securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	2,664	2,566
Unrealized Gains	5	2
Unrealized (Losses)	-1	-4
Aggregate Fair Value	2,668	2,564
Fixed income securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	8,785	8,115
Unrealized Gains	26	16
Unrealized (Losses)	-12	-28
Aggregate Fair Value	8,799	8,103
Publicly traded equity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	201	117
Unrealized Gains	98	103
Unrealized (Losses)	-14	-11
Aggregate Fair Value	285	209
Fixed income and publicly traded equity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	8,986	8,232
Unrealized Gains	124	119
Unrealized (Losses)	-26	-39
Aggregate Fair Value	$9,084	$8,312

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets3

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Fair Value Hierarchy For Financial Assets And Liabilities Measured At Fair Value (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	$13,472	$14,655
Investment in joint venture	37	37
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	5,868	7,082
Investment in joint venture	0	0
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	7,577	7,546
Investment in joint venture	0	0
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	27	27
Investment in joint venture	37	37
Cash
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,254	2,022
Cash | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,254	2,022
Cash | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Cash | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Cash equivalents
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,134	4,321
Cash equivalents | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,079	3,710
Cash equivalents | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	55	611
Cash equivalents | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
U.S. government and agency obligations
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,265	1,951
U.S. government and agency obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	1,250	1,141
U.S. government and agency obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	1,015	810
U.S. government and agency obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
U.S. corporate debt securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,395	1,995
U.S. corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
U.S. corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,395	1,995
U.S. corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
High yield corporate debt securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	395	563
High yield corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
High yield corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	395	563
High yield corporate debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Asset-backed securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	87	53
Asset-backed securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Asset-backed securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	87	53
Asset-backed securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Municipal obligations
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	962	950
Municipal obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Municipal obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	962	950
Municipal obligations | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Auction rate securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	27	27
Auction rate securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Auction rate securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Auction rate securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	27	27
Foreign debt securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,668	2,564
Foreign debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Foreign debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	2,668	2,564
Foreign debt securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Publicly traded equity securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	285	209
Publicly traded equity securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	285	209
Publicly traded equity securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Publicly traded equity securities | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total cash and investments	0	0
Strategic investments held at cost
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cost method strategic investments	339	333
Strategic investments held at cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cost method strategic investments	0	0
Strategic investments held at cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cost method strategic investments	0	0
Strategic investments held at cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cost method strategic investments	339	333
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	-5,614	-5,544
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	0	0
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	-5,614	-5,544
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt carried at discounted cost	0	0
Foreign Exchange Contract
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets	87	44
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	-86	-71
Foreign Exchange Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets	0	0
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	0	0
Foreign Exchange Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets	87	44
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	-86	-71
Foreign Exchange Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets	0	0
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	0	0
Commodity Contract
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets		12
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	5
Commodity Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets		0
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	0
Commodity Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets		12
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	5
Commodity Contract | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Foreign exchange derivative assets		0
Foreign exchange derivative liabilities	$0

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets4

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Unrealized Losses on Investments by Investment Category and Length of Time in Continuous Unrealized Loss Position (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	$2,441
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-20
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	36
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	-6
Total Fair Value	2,477
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-26
U.S. government and agency obligations
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	501
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	0
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	0
Total Fair Value	501
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
U.S. corporate debt securities
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	778
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	0
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	0
Total Fair Value	778
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
High yield corporate debt securities
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	138
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-7
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	0
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	0
Total Fair Value	138
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-7
Auction rate securities
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	0
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	0
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	27
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	-2
Total Fair Value	27
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-2
Foreign debt securities
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	918
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	0
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	0
Total Fair Value	918
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	-1
Publicly traded equity securities
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Line Items]
Less Than 12 Months Fair Value	106
Less than 12 Months Gross Unrealized Losses	-10
12 Months or Greater Fair Value	9
12 Months or Greater Gross Unrealized Losses	-4
Total Fair Value	115
Total, Gross Unrealized Losses	($14)

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets5

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Contractual Maturities of Investments (Detail) (Fixed income securities, USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Fixed income securities
Amortized Cost Basis
Due within one year	$2,036
Due after 1 year through 5 years	5,905
Due after 5 years through 10 years	524
Due after 10 years	320
Amortized Cost	8,785	8,115
Aggregate Fair Value
Due within one year	2,037
Due after 1 year through 5 years	5,920
Due after 5 years through 10 years	523
Due after 10 years	319
Aggregate Fair Value	$8,799	$8,103

Fair_Value_of_Financial_Assets6

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
The rate used for the discount margin to determine the estimated fair value of investment in auction rate securities	1.00%
Short-term investments	$2,062			$1,978
Foreign debt securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities	2,668			2,564
Average credit rating	A+
Foreign Sovereign Debt Securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Average credit rating	AA+
Percentage of securities	3.00%
Auction rate securities
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities	27			27
Average credit rating	AA
Change in fair value of level 3 investment	no material changes	no material changes
Number of auction rate securities	1
Auction rate securities that have partial guarantees by the U.S. government, market value	7
Percentage of loans guaranteed	95.00%
Coupon rate used to estimate fair value of investments - Start Range	0.00%
Coupon rate used to estimate fair value of investments - End Range	3.00%
Discount rate used to estimate fair value of investments	1.00%
The rate used for the discount margin to determine the estimated fair value of investment in auction rate securities				1.00%
Fair value input, discounted cash flow, term	5 years
Variable Rate Demand Note
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Short-term investments	$25
LenovoEMC [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Change in fair value of level 3 investment	no material changes	no material changes
Discount rate used to estimate fair value of investments			6.00%
Ownership percentage, joint venture	49.00%
Fair value input, discounted cash flow, term			3 years

Inventories_Components_of_Inve

Inventories - Components of Inventories (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]
Work-in-process	$609	$627
Finished goods	683	649
Inventory, Net, Total	$1,292	$1,276

Accounts_and_Notes_Receivable_2

Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses - Contractual Amounts Due under Leases (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Receivables [Abstract]
Due within one year	$71
Due within two years	49
Due within three years	37
Thereafter	1
Total	158	233
Less: Amounts representing interest	5
Present value	153
Current portion (included in accounts and notes receivable)	68
Long-term portion (included in other assets, net)	$85

Accounts_and_Notes_Receivable_3

Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Apr. 22, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due [Line Items]
Accounts Receivable, Additional Narrative Disclosure	no material changes	no material changes
Gross lease receivables	$158			$233
Subsequent Event
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due [Line Items]
Sales of leases to third parties without recourse			$6

Property_Plant_and_Equipment_C

Property, Plant and Equipment - Components of Property, Plant and Equipment (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	$9,728	$9,543
Accumulated depreciation	-5,986	-5,777
Property, plant and equipment, net	3,742	3,766
Furniture and fixtures
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	265	255
Equipment and software
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	6,842	6,684
Buildings and improvements
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	2,345	2,308
Land
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	162	162
Building construction in progress
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	114	134
Facilities not yet placed in service, holding for future use
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Building construction in progress	$76

Accrued_Expenses_Components_of

Accrued Expenses - Components of Accrued Expenses (Detail) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]
Salaries and benefits	$942	$1,251
Product warranties	191	210	274	289
Dividends payable (see Note 11)	234	237
Partner rebates	179	235
Restructuring, current (See Note 12)	188	123
Derivatives	91	75
Other	992	1,010
Accrued Liabilities, Current, Total	$2,817	$3,141

Accrued_Expenses_Activity_in_W

Accrued Expenses - Activity in Warranty Accrual for Product Warranty (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Movement in Standard Product Warranty Accrual [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	$210	$289
Provision	33	42
Amounts charged to the accrual	-52	-57
Balance, end of the period	$191	$274

Income_Taxes_Additional_Inform

Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Effective income tax rates	22.00%	24.30%

Shareholders_Equity_Reconcilia

Shareholders' Equity - Reconciliation from Basic To Diluted Earnings Per Share for both Numerators and Denominators (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Numerator:
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	$252	$392
Incremental dilution from VMware	-1	-2
Net income – dilution attributable to EMC Corporation	$251	$390
Denominator:
Weighted average shares, basic	1,974	2,029
Weighted common stock equivalents	22	26
Assumed conversion of the 2013 Notes and associated warrants	0	21
Weighted average shares, diluted	1,996	2,076

Shareholders_Equity_Dividends_

Shareholders' Equity - Dividends Declared (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended
In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	Feb. 27, 2015	Dec. 09, 2014	Jul. 30, 2014	Apr. 17, 2014	Feb. 06, 2014	Feb. 27, 2015	Dec. 09, 2014	Jul. 30, 2014	Apr. 17, 2014	Feb. 06, 2014	30-May-13
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Declaration Date	27-Feb-15	9-Dec-14	30-Jul-14	17-Apr-14	6-Feb-14
Dividend Per Share (in usd per share)						$0.12	$0.12	$0.12	$0.12	$0.10	$0.10
Record Date	1-Apr-15	2-Jan-15	1-Oct-14	1-Jul-14	1-Apr-14
Total Amount	$229	$234	$239	$237	$209
Payment Date	23-Apr-15	23-Jan-15	23-Oct-14	23-Jul-14	23-Apr-14

Shareholders_Equity_Accumulate

Shareholders' Equity - Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss, Net of Tax (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	($366)	($239)	($239)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	-72	18
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	-19	-7
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	-91	11
Ending balance	-457	-228
Taxes (benefits)	82	139
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	-188	-53	-53
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	-104	-4
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	0	0
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	-104	-4
Ending balance	-292	-57
Unrealized Net Gains on Investments
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	49	31	31
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	19	24
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	-8	-5
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	11	19
Ending balance	60	50	49	31
Taxes (benefits)	38	29	31	18
Unrealized Net Losses on Derivatives
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	-100	-106	-106
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	14	-1
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	-11	-2
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	3	-3
Ending balance	-97	-109	-100	-106
Taxes (benefits)	-61	-67	-64	-66
Recognition of Actuarial Net Loss from Pension and Other Postretirement Plans
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	-126	-110	-110
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	0	0
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	0	0
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	0	0
Ending balance	-126	-110	-126	-110
Taxes (benefits)	-70	-61	-70	-61
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Attributable to the Non-controlling Interest in VMware, Inc.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	-1	-1	-1
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications	-1	-1
Net losses (gains) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	0	0
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)	-1	-1
Ending balance	($2)	($2)

Shareholders_Equity_Reclassifi

Shareholders' Equity - Reclassification Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Investment income	$24	$36
Product sales revenue	2,905	3,008
Cost of product sales	-1,329	-1,296
Other interest expense	-40	-34
Income (loss) before provision for income taxes	373	571
Provision for income tax	-82	-139
Net income	291	432
Net gain on investments
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Provision for income tax	-38	-29	-31	-18
Net gain on derivatives
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Provision for income tax	61	67	64	66
Net gains from pension and other postretirement plans
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Provision for income tax	70	61	70	61
Foreign Exchange Contract | Reclassification Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Net gain on derivatives
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Product sales revenue	20	1
Cost of product sales	-3	1
Income (loss) before provision for income taxes	11	2
Provision for income tax	0	0
Net income	11	2
Interest Rate Swap | Reclassification Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Net gain on interest rate swap
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Other interest expense	-6	0
Unrealized Gain on Investments | Reclassification Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Net gain on investments
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Investment income	14	8
Provision for income tax	-6	-3
Net income	$8	$5

Shareholders_Equity_Additional

Shareholders' Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		25 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2015	Nov. 30, 2006	Mar. 17, 2014	Feb. 27, 2015	Dec. 09, 2014	Dec. 01, 2014	Jul. 30, 2014	Apr. 17, 2014	Feb. 06, 2014	30-May-13	Feb. 28, 2013	Jan. 27, 2015	Aug. 01, 2014
Sold warrants to acquire shares of our common stock, exercise price per share				19.55
Common stock excluded from calculation of diluted earnings per share	1,000,000	6,000,000
Repurchases of Common Stock, shares authorized to repurchase	500,000,000		500,000,000					250,000,000					250,000,000
Total Repurchases of Common Stock, cost	$1,400,000,000		$6,800,000,000
Total Repurchases of Common Stock, shares	54,000,000		255,000,000
Shares authorized for future repurchases	245,000,000		245,000,000
Payments for Repurchase of Common Stock	1,346,000,000	390,000,000
Approved dividend (in usd per share)						$0.12	$0.12		$0.12	$0.12	$0.10	$0.10
Sold Warrants
Sold warrants to acquire shares of our common stock				215,000,000
Warrant
Warrants exercised					109,000,000
Exercised Warrants
Conversion of Stock, Shares Issued					29,000,000
VMware
Total Repurchases of Common Stock, shares	5,000,000
Payments for Repurchase of Common Stock	438,000,000	169,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Authorized Amount	2,000,000,000		2,000,000,000											1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Remaining Authorized Repurchase Amount	$1,500,000,000		$1,500,000,000

Restructuring_and_AcquisitionR2

Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges - Activity For Restructuring Program (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	$111	$114
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	113
Restructuring Utilization	-11
Ending Balance	102
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member] | Workforce reductions
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	107
Restructuring Utilization	-11
Ending Balance	96
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member] | Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	6
Restructuring Utilization	0
Ending Balance	6
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring Other Programs
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	121	90
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	-2	-5
Restructuring Utilization	-44	-28
Ending Balance	75	57
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring Other Programs | Workforce reductions
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	102	66
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	-2	-8
Restructuring Utilization	-39	-21
Ending Balance	61	37
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring Other Programs | Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	19	24
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	0	3
Restructuring Utilization	-5	-7
Ending Balance	14	20
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2014 Programs
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance		0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision		119
Restructuring Utilization		-16
Ending Balance		103
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2014 Programs | Workforce reductions
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance		0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision		117
Restructuring Utilization		-15
Ending Balance		102
EMC Information Infrastructure | Restructuring 2014 Programs | Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance		0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision		2
Restructuring Utilization		-1
Ending Balance		1
VMware
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	22
VMware | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	8
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	22
Restructuring Utilization	-14
Ending Balance	16
VMware | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member] | Workforce reductions
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	8
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	22
Restructuring Utilization	-14
Ending Balance	16
VMware | Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member] | Consolidation of excess facilities and other contractual obligations
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	0
Charges/ Adjustments to the Provision	0
Restructuring Utilization	0
Ending Balance	$0

Restructuring_and_AcquisitionR3

Restructuring and Acquisition-Related Charges - Additional information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
			position
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	$135	$119
Restructuring charges	111	114
Acquisition-related charges	1
Lease termination costs for facilities	6	5
VMware
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring charges	22
Acquisition-related charges	1	5
Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member]
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Positions Eliminated		1,320
Restructuring 2015 Programs [Member] | VMware
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring charges	$22
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Positions Eliminated	350
Restructuring 2014 Programs
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Positions Eliminated			1,326

Segment_Information_Additional

Segment Information - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
	Country	Country
United States
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets	4,383		$4,380
International
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets	953		$1,021
Geographic Concentration | Sales Revenue, Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of countries other than the US that accounted for 10% or more	0	0
Geographic Concentration | Long-lived Assets, Total
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of countries other than the US that accounted for 10% or more	0
EMC Information Infrastructure
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments	3

Segment_information_Detail

Segment information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Revenues:
Product revenues	$2,905	$3,008
Services revenues	2,708	2,471
Total consolidated revenues	5,613	5,479
Gross profit	3,339	3,347
Gross profit percentage	59.50%	61.10%
Research and development	788	731
Selling, general and administrative	2,037	1,852
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	135	119
Total operating expenses	2,960	2,702
Operating income (expense)	379	645
Non-operating income (expense), net	-6	-74
Income tax provision	82	139
Net income	291	432
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	-39	-40
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	252	392
EMC Information Infrastructure
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,306	2,441
Services revenues	1,743	1,637
Total consolidated revenues	4,049	4,078
Gross profit	2,105	2,237
Gross profit percentage	52.00%	54.90%
Research and development	424	377
Selling, general and administrative	1,169	1,102
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	1,593	1,479
Operating income (expense)	512	758
Pivotal
Revenues:
Product revenues	16	11
Services revenues	38	38
Total consolidated revenues	54	49
Gross profit	22	19
Gross profit percentage	40.30%	38.10%
Research and development	27	31
Selling, general and administrative	49	41
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	76	72
Operating income (expense)	-54	-53
EMC Information Infrastructure Plus Pivotal
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,322	2,452
Services revenues	1,781	1,675
Total consolidated revenues	4,103	4,127
Gross profit	2,127	2,256
Gross profit percentage	51.90%	54.70%
Research and development	451	408
Selling, general and administrative	1,218	1,143
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	1,669	1,551
Operating income (expense)	458	705
Non-operating income (expense), net	-14	-80
Income tax provision	126	170
Net income	318	455
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	0	0
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	318	455
VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC
Revenues:
Product revenues	583	556
Services revenues	927	796
Total consolidated revenues	1,510	1,352
Gross profit	1,311	1,184
Gross profit percentage	86.80%	87.60%
Research and development	247	229
Selling, general and administrative	604	537
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	0	0
Total operating expenses	851	766
Operating income (expense)	460	418
Non-operating income (expense), net	8	6
Income tax provision	89	83
Net income	379	341
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	-74	-68
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	305	273
Corp Reconciling Items
Revenues:
Product revenues	0	0
Services revenues	0	0
Total consolidated revenues	0	0
Gross profit	-99	-93
Gross profit percentage	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development	90	94
Selling, general and administrative	215	172
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges	135	119
Total operating expenses	440	385
Operating income (expense)	-539	-478
Non-operating income (expense), net	0	0
Income tax provision	-133	-114
Net income	-406	-364
Less: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in VMware, Inc.	35	28
Net income attributable to EMC Corporation	-371	-336
Information Storage
Revenues:
Product revenues	2,179	2,302
Services revenues	1,484	1,378
Total consolidated revenues	3,663	3,680
Gross profit	1,850	1,976
Gross profit percentage	50.50%	53.70%
Information Intelligence Group
Revenues:
Product revenues	27	35
Services revenues	111	119
Total consolidated revenues	138	154
Gross profit	90	99
Gross profit percentage	65.20%	64.70%
RSA Information Security
Revenues:
Product revenues	100	104
Services revenues	148	140
Total consolidated revenues	248	244
Gross profit	$165	$162
Gross profit percentage	66.60%	66.20%

Segment_Information_Revenues_B

Segment Information - Revenues By Geographic Area (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total consolidated revenues	$5,613	$5,479
United States
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total consolidated revenues	3,013	2,835
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total consolidated revenues	1,559	1,592
Asia Pacific and Japan
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total consolidated revenues	729	722
Latin America, Mexico and Canada
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total consolidated revenues	$312	$330