UPDATE 2-Salesforce orders slow, shares fall

* Deferred revenue drops from Q2 to Q3

* Q3 EPS 16 cents, matches Street view

* Shares fall 6.9 percent after the bell

BOSTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Business software maker Salesforce.com Inc (CRM.N) on Tuesday reported a slowdown in new business ahead of its busiest quarter of the year, sending its shares tumbling nearly 7 percent after hours.

The company noted a decline in deferred revenue, which includes money already received but not yet booked as revenue, from the second quarter to the third quarter, ended Oct. 31.

That indicates the economy is not improving as much as investors hoped and the software maker's business is not poised to recover as quickly as projected, said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

"Expectations were too high," Chowdhry added.

Salesforce sells its software as subscriptions and books revenue over the course of at least a year.

The lower-than-expected bookings came as third-quarter results matched Wall Street projections.

Third-quarter net income doubled to $21.4 million, or 16 cents per share, from $11.7 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 20 percent to $331 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $324 million.

Total deferred revenue fell to $545.4 million at the end of the third quarter from $549 million at the end of the second quarter.

Salesforce shares fell 6.9 percent to $61.10 in after-hours trading after falling 1.9 percent to close at $65.61 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; editing by Andre Grenon)