If you’re among those closely following WiMAX developments in Asia, take note: WiMAX Day reported earlier this week that Samsung plans to invest more than $320 million in WiMAX development and research during 2007.

The money primarily will be funneled into R&D for mobile handsets and notebook computers (such as the SPH-P9000 MIT Device introduced in early November).

WiMAX Day noted that this investment is on top of an estimated $550 million the company already committed to internal R&D for WiMAX products.

According to the WiMAX Day report, Samsung president Kitae Lee “said that he expects heavy demand for mobile WiMAX products to begin in 2008 and then boom in the following years.”

Lee made his statements at the ITU conference in Hong Kong, where he also said he anticipates 130 million mobile WiMAX subscribers by 2011.

Hmm… that almost sounds like an echo from In-Stat’s report this past July in which the research firm said the WiMAX market in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region should be worth $4.3 billion by 2011.

Guess we’ll just have to wait until 2011 and see how things work out…