Apple made it easier for millions of iPhone fans. The Hong Kong lovers of Apple’s iPhone could now acquire their unlocked version of their favorite handset directly via the company’s website.

The phone can be used with any of the Hong Kong carriers, as the statement on the website say: "iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation."

Seems easy, but as you might have already guessed, the prices are higher than the ones for the devices sold through Apple’s Hong Kong official distributor, Hutchison Telecommunications. For example the unlocked 8GB model is priced at HK $5,400 (roughly US$700), while the same model is about $377 ($2938 HKD) at Hutchison. But the iPhone from Hutchinson comes with a 24-month contract with monthly fees starting at $24 ($188 HKD) per month.

According to MacWorld, Apple has decided to sell unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong due to the impressive customer response. The company’s initial strategy was introducing the popular 3G device through specific service providers in 22 nations. Hong Kong buyers could only purchase the multimedia phone from Hutchison with a two-year mobile contract, even though the device was widely available on the black market.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that after a long waiting period, major Russian home electronics and cell phone retailers will finally bring the iPhone officially on the market starting Oct. 3.

Apple has already signed distribution deals with all three biggest Russian carriers: MegaFon, Vimpelcom and MTS. VimpelCom had 51.7 million subscribers as of the end of 2007, while MTS has around 91 million clients. MegaFone has nearly 30 million customers.

However, the iPhone is already available on the Russian "gray" market, selling for around $1,000 and reportedly almost 500,000 earlier-generation iPhones were sold in Russia.