What is the RAM shortage and why is DDR4 coming back?

Numbers match the citations in the article. A working link isn't proof that a page supports a claim; check the quoted passage and date.

1. 1

   DDR SDRAM (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 6, 2026Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “Double data rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory (DDR SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) widely used in computers and other electronic devices. It improves on earlier SDRAM technology by transferring data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal, effectively doubling the data rate without increasing the clock frequency. This technique, known as double data rate (DDR), allows for higher memory bandwidth while maintaining lower power consumption and reduced signal interference. DDR SDRAM was first introduced in the late 1990s and is sometimes referred to as DDR1 to distinguish it from later generations. It has been succeeded by DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, DDR4 SDRAM (1×32-bit channel), DDR5 SDRAM (2×32-bit subchannels), and upcoming DDR6 SDRAM (with 4×16-bit subchannels), each offering further improvements in speed, capacity, and efficiency. These generations are not backward or forward compatible, meaning memory modules from different DDR versions cannot be used interchangeably on the same motherboard.”

2. 2

   DDR4 SDRAM (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 10, 2026Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “Double Data Rate 4 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR4 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory with a high-bandwidth ("double data rate") interface. Released to the market in 2014, it is a variant of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), some of which have been in use since the early 1970s, and a higher-speed successor to the DDR2 and DDR3 technologies. DDR4 is not compatible with any earlier type of random-access memory (RAM) due to different signaling voltage and physical interface, besides other factors. DDR4 SDRAM was released to the public market in Q2 2014, focusing on ECC memory, while the non-ECC DDR4 modules became available in Q3 2014, accompanying the launch of Haswell-E processors that require DDR4 memory.”