Apple Inc. has launched an unlocked version of the iPhone 3G in Hong Kong. The version allows users to use the mobile phone carrier of their choice.

For now, Apple’s move looks like an exception from its policy of selling the iPhone 3G. In all the other 22 countries in which Apple launched its high-end device, purchasing it involved contracts with local carriers.

The new offer is advertised on Apple’s Web site which says people can "buy [the iPhone 3G] directly from Apple" and then choose the carrier they want to use.

"Phone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier," Apple wrote on its Web site.

"Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation."

However, this presumably means any Honk Kong carrier, since activation is still done via iTunes.

“Unlocked iPhone 3Gs” is an expression that sounds very good, but this doesn’t come cheap. The 8 GB version of the iPhone is available for $5,400 Hong Kong dollars ($695) and the 16 GB version costs $6,200 Honk Kong dollars ($798). The prices include free shipping.

Until Apple’s move to sell unlocked iPhones, Hong Kong residents could only buy the high-end device from Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. The purchase included a two-year mobile contract despite the fact that buyers also had the option of buying the iPhone from the black market.

The prices are significantly higher than in the United States where buyers can purchase the 8GB iPhone for $199 and the 16 GB version for $299, but the phones are subsidized and include contracts with carriers.