TV business, the plant is increasingly seen as redundant as competition heats up from rivals including LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics. Sharp says it has a technical advantage in manufacturing larger panels of 60 inches or more, as well as the small panels used in mobile devices, but will scale back production in the commoditized middle sector. "South Korean companies are losing money in the 30 to 40 inch market," Sharp President Mikio Katayama told reporters in Tokyo on Friday. "Sharp is not going to do battle in a market where we lose money even if we win." Analysts expect global tablet sales to soar to more than 50 million units in 2011. Apple boasts 80 percent of the market, but it is attracting many new entrants. Separately, Sharp said on Friday it would source midsized panels from cost-competitive alliance partners in China and Taiwan. Katayama told reporters talks about a plan for Sharp to build its own cutting-edge TV panel plant in China had stalled. The Nikkei business daily reported that Sharp is in talks with Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision to jointly procure parts for LCD production. Katayama declined to confirm the report, but said Sharp would work with overseas companies to cut costs. Sharp was forced to suspend output at two TV panel plants in April, after the March 11 earthquake triggered a plunge in demand and shortages of a gas used in the production process. The company said on Friday it would take a 27 billion yen extraordinary charge in the April-June quarter following the stoppages. For the current business year, Sharp expects to sell 15 million flat-screen TVs comperger from the Federal Trade Commission than would Staples if it tried to buy one of those two outfits, Sargent said Friday morning at a Sanford C. Bernstein conference. The FTC is often reticent to approve mergers that turn three rivals into two, on the grounds that consumers would be harmed, but Sargent said players like W.B. Mason, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and others make the sector much more competitive than just the three chains. Sargent acknowledged the seeming glut of office-supply stores in the U.S., but said there are still a handful of markets where Staples has no presence and wants to enter. Combined, the three chains have over 3,600 stores in the U.S. Staples has hundreds of leases coming up for renewal in the coming years, and Sargent said it would be aggressive in either securing lower rents or moving larger stores to smaller locations, as its larger stores typically have several thousand square feet more than is optimal. As it opens stores selectively in new markets, it will also close stores in markets where it has too many. For example, Sargent pointed to Augusta, Maine, which has two Staples, the result of a move to block the entry into the market of OfficeMax. He indicated that the two stores do more business than just one, but suggested that two is too many and one will be closed. Office suppliers have struggled as consumers and businesses rein in spending and governments cut budgets. The already slim margins have been compressed by price cutting, a war many say can't be won by Office Depot or OfficeMax against bigger and better operator