Apple Inc (AAPL) sold more iPhones than Wall Street expected in the third quarter and estimated its revenue in the current period would top many analysts' targets, soothing fears that demand for the company's most important product had hit a wall.Its shares rose 7 percent to $103.47 in after-hours trade following publication of results.The world's most valuable publicly traded company said it sold 40.4 million iPhones in the third quarter, down 15% from the year-ago quarter but slightly more than the average analyst forecast of 40.02 million, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.IPhone sales dropped for the second straight quarter, pushing down Apple's total revenue 14.6% in the fiscal third quarter, ended June 25.Demand for Apple's phones has waned in China, partly because of economic uncertainty there, and has also slowed in more mature markets as people tend to hold on to their phones for longer. The sales slump has stoked concerns about whether the tech leader can continue to deliver profits at the level Wall Street has come to expect. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters in an interview that Apple's performance had topped his expectations in a quarter weighed down by tough foreign exchange rates and difficult comparisons with blockbuster iPhone 6 sales from the previous year.Apple reduced channel inventory by $3.6 billion, exceeding the $2 billion expected reduction, meaning sales were better than they appeared, Maestri said. Customer demand "was better than what is implied in our results and better than we had anticipated," he said. Sales of the iPhone fell last quarter for the first time since the gadget's release in 2007, dropping 16.3 percent. Maestri projected the gadget's average selling price to rise in the September quarter. The iPhone drives about two-thirds of Apple's total sales. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said during a call with analysts that the iPhone SE, a cheaper, four-inch (10 cm) phone released this year, was extending the range of people able to buy Apple phones."It's opening the door to customers we weren't reaching before," he said. Apple's quarterly net profit fell 27% to $7.8 billion, while revenue of $42.36 billion beat analysts' average estimate of $42.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.Sales in Greater China, once touted as Apple's next growth engine, decreased 33.1%, compared with a 112.4% growth in the year-earlier quarter and a near 26% fall in the second quarter.It is just ridiculous that sales, revenues and profit are down but shares up 7% because actual figures are better then analyst's fantasies. Don't think upside will be prolonged. $AAPL, Apple Inc. / 1440